Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives - Corporations and corporate powerhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/taxonomy/term/27
enWorkers on the edge in Bangladeshhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/workers-edge-bangladesh
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<div class="field-item even">The global COVID-19 response is shaking garment supply chains and changing how Canadian unions do solidarity with Bangladeshi workers.</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/asad-ismi">Asad Ismi</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">May 1, 2020</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p style="text-align: right;"><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/The_Monitor/Screen%20Shot%202020-04-17%20at%208.12.28%20AM.png" alt="A Bangladeshi woman wearing a face mask works in a clothing factory" width="1606" height="1064" /><sup>A Bangladeshi worker (photo from ILO Asia-Pacific, Flickr Creative Commons)</sup></p>
<p>“COVID-19 will be a catastrophe for Bangladeshi garment workers.” </p>
<p>I am speaking with Kalpona Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation (BGIWF). It is March 19. Governments around the world have ordered the temporary closure of retail outlets and other businesses, putting millions of people out of work. The shutdown in the West put immediate pressure on global supply chains, in particular for sectors like clothing.</p>
<p>“The international brands that source from garment factories in Bangladesh have already started cancelling their orders for clothes. Consequently, Bangladeshi workers are in very bad shape presently. They are not only afraid of getting infected by COVID-19, but also fear that thousands of them will be laid off and so have no money to put food on the table for their families,” says Akter. </p>
<p>“These are workers who were poor and vulnerable to begin with before the spread of the virus as they were being denied a living wage that would allow them to buy basic necessities.”</p>
<p>While several countries including Canada have announced aid packages for wage earners who lose their jobs due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Bangladesh government had, by mid-April, taken no such step. According to Akter, “it is unlikely that it will do so in the future.” </p>
<p>Bangladesh is the second biggest exporter of garments in the world after China, and with 4.1 million workers in the sector it is the country’s leading export earner. Over 75% of these workers are women. According to Akter, the garment sector pays poverty wages and is notorious for the suppression of labour rights and the presence of high levels of gender-based violence. In the past, Bangladeshi garment manufacturers have also been notorious for dangerously unsafe factories.</p>
<p>On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza garment factory in the capital city of Dhaka collapsed, killing 1,134 workers and injuring 2,500. It was one of the deadliest industrial accidents the world had ever witnessed. International and domestic public outrage and pressure on international brands from Bangladeshi and other unions, including in Canada, resulted in major improvements in factory safety, but the other significant problems remain unaddressed. </p>
<p>Since 2013, the Canadian labour movement has been working with the Bangladesh Centre for Workers’ Solidarity (BCWS), which is closely linked to the Akter’s federation, to press governments, employers and international brands to work together to improve working conditions for Bangladeshi garment sector workers. The Canadian unions involved include the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), United Steelworkers (USW), Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).</p>
<p>These unions give the BCWS funding for core operations and for providing training and support for women leaders in factories. Doug Olthuis, executive director of the USW Humanity Fund, explains that through their financial help, support in Bangladesh and support in Canada, “We’ve raised our political voice with the governments of both Bangladesh and Canada to make sure appropriate measures are taken to uphold labour rights, especially the ability to freely join unions.</p>
<p>“That has had some impact on the Canadian government, which knows that there is a constituency in Canada that is watching what Ottawa does,” he continues. “This has been helpful for sure. It is important for Canadian unions to make some noise to motivate the government to act on behalf of Bangladeshi garment workers because otherwise it won’t.”</p>
<p>Transnational solidarity has also amplified concerns raised by workers in Bangladesh with their country’s Ministry of Labour. “The fact that Canadian unions meet with the ministry means that the Bangladesh government knows that they are being watched and that unions and consumers from around the world are paying attention to what it does,” says Olthuis, who joined representatives from CUPE, PSAC, OSSTF and CLC on a delegation to Dhaka in May 2019.</p>
<p>Canadian unions are planning to launch a campaign for a living wage for Bangladeshi garment workers. This is a major concern for Akter, who explains that the poverty wages garment workers currently get do not even cover their monthly costs. Workers often have to work 16-hour days to try to make ends meet, which means they have no family life at all. The workers have no savings either, which makes it impossible for them to deal with a crisis such as COVID-19. </p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>Louise Casselman, the PSAC’s Social Justice Fund Officer, also travelled to Dhaka with the union solidarity delegation in May last year. She points out that the cost of clothing has been dropping while other consumer products tend to get more expensive from year to year. </p>
<p>International brands have all adopted a strategy of “fast fashion,” in which clothing trends change every two months, rather than seasonally, as a means of boosting sales. To convince consumers back to the rack more frequently, prices must be kept low, explains Casselman, which has meant keeping the wages of garment workers low as well. </p>
<p>“This explains why workers in the apparel industry are facing such substandard wages and working conditions and why their attempts to organize to improve their living and working conditions face such resistance,” she tells me. Unionization and labour rights are not just under threat in Bangladesh, according to Akter, but effectively criminalized.</p>
<p>“When workers try to organize, they are fired. This is very common,” she remarks. “There is no freedom of association in Bangladesh.” In 2016, when workers raised their voices for a higher minimum wage, they were handed criminal charges. Many workers, including one of Akter’s organizers, were thrown in prison for months.</p>
<p>“During the last two years, over 10,000 workers have been fired for making wage increase demands and three dozen criminal charges have been laid against 7,000 workers. But our workers are brave, and in spite of this repression, they never stop raising their voices and never stop fighting.” However, the state crackdowns in 2016 and 2018 have “pushed back our labour movement at least by a few years” Akter says. </p>
<p>If it is especially hard to change the insidious combination of lack of job security and official repression in Bangladesh, Akter explains it is because, “in many cases, our government is our factory owner.” Some legislators in Bangladesh own garment factories. “In a country like that, where the power dynamic is so critical, it is difficult to fight for your rights.”</p>
<p>Olthuis concurs with Akter that “a lot of the lawmakers in the Bangladeshi parliament are actually garment factory owners,” which he says compromises the Bangladesh government on this issue. “We talk about state capture, and in my opinion the government has been quite captured by the garment sector. It’s room to maneuver is limited.” </p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>There is also enormous gender-based violence and sexual harassment in Bangladeshi factories, says Akter. “Because of the culture it happens, it begins at the top. It is time for us to break that silence and get these manufacturers to have anti-harassment committees in the factories and also to pressure our government to pass a law against such violence and harassment.”</p>
<p>Akter is in agreement with the Canadian unions’ planned international campaign for providing a living wage to Bangladeshi garment workers. “It is very crucial to have Canadian unions pressure Canadian brands to pay garment workers a living wage. This is not just for the Bangladeshi workers, it’s for the whole supply chain, no matter which country they are sourcing from.</p>
<p>“We really need these jobs,” Akter continues. “But we want jobs with dignity. And at this moment the jobs we have are not dignified. Canadian consumers should know that the workers don’t have a living wage and should support their demands for better wages and raise their voices with the Canadian brands in this regard.” </p>
<p>But the chaos created by the COVID-19 virus has also thrown international solidarity into uncharted waters. Casselman observes that this moment “sheds new light on the vulnerability of a supply chain that offers no safeguards or protection for a workforce contracted out to local manufacturers whose own profit margin depends on the super-exploitation of labour.” </p>
<p>Garment workers, like many other manufacturing workers, face plant shutdowns “due to the lack of inputs from China and the contraction of demand,” explains Casselman, noting that isolation measures to contain the virus are shuttering demand across Europe and North America. Solidarity work will have to adjust.</p>
<p>“We already know we will need to increase the role of workers, women, Indigenous peoples and [people of African descent] and their access to social, economic and political rights. COVID-19 could wipe out many of the gains made by the social movements over the last generation, unless we are prepared to fight for a model of development based on a new equitable, green economy, based on fundamental human rights. </p>
<p>“It will not be given to us, so we will have to fight for it, and be prepared to accompany those on the frontlines of social change.”</p>
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<p><em>Asad Ismi covers international affairs for the Monitor.</em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/gender-equality">Gender equality</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
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Fri, 17 Apr 2020 12:11:36 +0000Stuart Trew15189 at https://www.policyalternatives.caPolicing of dissent, from the G20 to the Wet’suwet’en disputehttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/policing-dissent-g20-wet%E2%80%99suwet%E2%80%99en-dispute
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/paul-weinberg">Paul Weinberg</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">May 1, 2020</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p style="text-align: right;" dir="ltr"><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/The_Monitor/4742835377_61e465339b_o.jpg" alt="G20 protesters in Toronto sit in front of a line of riot police" width="2496" height="1664" style="font-size: 1.5rem; text-align: right;" /><sup style="text-align: right;">G20 summit in Toronto, June 2010. Photo by katerkate (Flickr Creative Commons)</sup></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Hours before the police went berserk, my friends and I joined the throng of liked-minded protesters, including whole families, marching through the heart of downtown Toronto. It was a Saturday, June 26, 2010. Our destination was as close as we could get to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, venue for the fourth annual G20 leaders’ summit, hosted that year by then–prime minister Stephen Harper.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>As we wound our way through the streets, we ran into other protesters we knew, including the young son of a friend, who had come all the way from Halifax. People were drawn from across Canada and many other parts of the world to this highly publicized political manifestation. Their demands of world leaders, in the trough of the global financial crisis, were varied but also consistent with past mass mobilizations against corporate globalization: put people and the planet ahead of the profits of the elite. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>What most people (inside and outside the GTA) will remember about that moment, however, is the property damage and overblown police response to it. Sure, Black Bloc protesters could be spotted among the crowd. But it was impossible to miss the more intimidating army of riot police showing off their new “assets” (see “Harper’s Security Spending Spree” on adjacent page), as one observer later put it. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>A few hours into the march, police locked down the city’s core. Hundreds of demonstrators, but also many hapless observers, would eventually be arrested—even many in a “designated protest zone” established by the police on the lawn of Queen’s Park, about 15 blocks from where G20 leaders were meeting. At least 100 officers illegally removed their badges during the mayhem, and a total of 1,100 protesters were charged, making it the largest single mass arrest in Canada’s history. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Toronto’s police chief at the time, Bill Blair (now federal public safety minister), who was then regarded as a police reformer, defended the behaviour of the officers on duty, as did the city’s mayor, David Miller. Yet Blair “never called the shots,” according to the former general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Nathalie Des Rosiers. Because this was an international event on Canadian soil and involving the prime minister, that was the RCMP’s job.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>According to Des Rosiers, who sat as a Liberal in the Ontario legislature from 2016 to 2019, the only way to understand the police behaviour in Toronto in June 2010 is to examine the agenda and priorities of the Harper government. Many other observers point out how politics and policing remain dangerously entwined a decade later, with consequences for social movements and the civil liberties of everyone.</span></p>
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<h2 dir="ltr"><strong>Harper’s Security Spending Spree</strong></h2>
<p><em>The budget for the [G8 and G20] summits was $858 million, the bulk of which was spent on “security” for the G20 summit in Toronto. The RCMP…received $330 million, or 38.5% of the overall expenditure. The budget included almost eight dozen (95) new CCTV (closed circuit television) cameras for downtown Toronto, more than 6 km of 3m/10ft zinc‐coated fencing, sound canons, rubber bullets, smoke bombs, teargas, pepper spray, a temporary jail in a converted film studio, a pre‐summit police training drill on counter‐terrorism in the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce tower in Toronto’s finance district, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) monitoring air traffic, and hundreds of private security guards working for a company not licensed to operate security services in Ontario (the company was licensed in a rush right before the summits, after media had widely reported that the company wasn’t licensed to operate in Ontario). The budget also included the salaries, overtime, and benefits of 19,000 police, meals, travel and fleet requirements for police, accommodation for out‐of‐province police and commanding officers in the national police hierarchy</em>. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Excerpted from “‘The Big Smoke’ Screen,” by Ian Hussey and Patrice LeClerc, in <em>Socialist Studies</em>, Fall 2011.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;" dir="ltr">***</p>
<p dir="ltr">As the chair of the Toronto Police Services Board in 2010, Alok Mukherjee has a unique perspective on the events of a decade ago. In contrast with Blair or Miller, he eventually apologized for what had happened. "Innocent people had their rights abridged, their liberty interfered with and their physical safety jeopardized," said Mukherjee in a prepared statement in July 2012. </p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Now a commentator and writer on policing, Mukherjee claims that the G20 was a dangerous example of how the post-9/11 national security framework had produced a newly aggressive policing that was reflected in uniforms and vehicles, surveillance practices, weaponry and tactics. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>“Policing driven by national security and anti-terrorism operations…treats the community—or segments of it—as ‘the other’ and a legitimate target of surveillance and intelligence gathering,” he wrote in his 2018 book, </span><span><em>Excessive Force: Toronto’s Fight to Reform City Policing</em>.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Much of this shift occurred under earlier Liberal governments attempting to integrate Canada’s response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks with the neoconservative government in Washington, D.C. But over a decade in office, the Harper government displayed an overtly harsh tone toward their self-declared enemies: anti-globalization activists and environmentalists were directly targeted, while Muslims and Indigenous people felt even more scrutinized and criminalized.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The Harper government (then in minority) did its best to stifle a House of Commons investigation of the G20 protest policing. Still, the March 2011 report of the public safety committee was critical of police behaviour and requested an apology to the thousands of people whose rights had been violated. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>In a dissenting rejoinder, Conservatives on the committee praised “the good work done by Canadian law enforcement officers” and suggested the criticism of the police was “merely an attempt by the Opposition Coalition to score political points.” But according to a CBC News report later that year, this “good work” included an extensive 500-person security and intelligence operation ahead of the G8 and G20 that targeted and infiltrated activist groups across Canada in collaboration with private corporations, including “energy sector stakeholders.” </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>This public-private collaboration continued into the Harper government’s majority years. Two years after the G20 in Toronto, Joe Oliver, then natural resources minister, penned an open letter during the National Energy Board hearings into the Northern Gateway pipeline, in which he condemned “foreign special interest groups” for interfering in Canada’s affairs. “These groups threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda,” the minister said. “They seek to exploit any loophole they can find, stacking public hearings with bodies to ensure that delays kill good projects.”</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>In 2015, the government passed a broad package of security measures in its Anti-Terrorism Act (Bill C-51), which expanded the definition of national security threats to include those posing a danger to Canada’s “critical infrastructure” (e.g., bridges, highways, mines, and oil and gas projects such as pipelines and resource extraction). As sanctions for interfering with these projects increased, environmental protections were weakened. Charitable groups promoting a low-carbon future, or whose views otherwise challenged the government, were targeted for political audits by the Canada Revenue Agency.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>With C-51 in place, Indigenous rights and land claims activists and environmentalists could now be labelled, under the loose definition of national security, as “radicals” or “terrorists,” with the likelihood this would increase surveillance and harassment by the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said Tim McSorley, national co-ordinator of the Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Bill C-51 also introduced the Security of Canada Information Sharing Act, which for the first time removed internal barriers to the sharing of a citizen’s personal information among federal government departments or agencies if the data is considered relevant for an investigation. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>“If the Canada Revenue Agency thinks it has information that could be relevant to the RCMP around some kind of information about protesters, they could in theory offer to share that information,” says McSorley.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>After winning the fall 2015 federal election, the new Liberal government promised to reform the highly controversial and much hated Bill C-51. In 2017, the government introduced more changes to Canada’s national security practices in Bill C-59, which underwent another public consultation and became law in June 2019. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>“There was less inflammatory rhetoric” from the Liberals toward protesters, said McSorley. But both the critical infrastructure and sharing of citizen data provisions (the latter under a slightly new name) were largely kept intact, as were new powers given to CSIS in Bill C-51 to disrupt activist groups.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" dir="ltr"><span>***</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>A 2018 book, </span><em>Policing Indigenous Movements: Dissent and the Security State</em><span>, documents the extensive surveillance of Indigenous activists who are described as “aboriginal extremists” by the RCMP. The authors, Jeffrey Monaghan and Andrew Crosby, spent about five years accessing internal RCMP security and intelligence memos, which revealed widespread scrutiny of the resurgent Indigenous rights movements, particularly Idle No More and activity surrounding land claims, missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and natural resource development. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Of special interest to the Mounties were 313 core Indigenous activists identified by the force in its Project Sikta, 89 of whom the force said met “the criteria for criminality associated to public order events,” even though investigators were unable to find anything violent about the organizations monitored.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/The_Monitor/49542018656_1cba584f23_o.jpg" alt="Protesters hold up a banner that says &quot;No Pipelines: Stop RCMP Invasion on Indigenous Lands&quot;" width="2048" height="1367" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: right;" dir="ltr"><sup><span><span>Wet'suwet'en solidarity event, Vaughan, Ontario, February 15, 2020. Photo by Jason Hargrove (Flickr Creative Commons)</span></span></sup></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>In late February this year, a few weeks before COVID-19 forced everyone indoors, nationwide protests by Indigenous and non-Indigenous supporters of hereditary Wet’suwet’en chiefs had brought rail traffic to a halt in much of the country. The tactic was meant to put pressure on the federal and B.C. governments to come to a mutually acceptable agreement with the Wet’suwet’en following the violent enforcement, in early February, of a Coastal GasLink injunction against camps standing in the way of the company’s pipeline workers.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The RCMP officers had come equipped with helicopters and armed paramilitary personnel to confront unarmed men, women and children defying the injunction, recalled Grand Chief Stewart Philip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. He told CBC’s Michael Enright that the Mounties looked a bit like U.S. GIs in the Vietnam War, showing off their firepower. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Fortunately, no one was shot or wounded by the RCMP. But rights were violated, including those of supporters of the hereditary chiefs who were arrested on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, and those of journalists covering the events.</span> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Melissa Cox, a U.S. documentary filmmaker, said she was roughed up a bit while filming the arrest of Gitxan hereditary chief and matriarch Gwinintxw (Yvonne Lattie).* “The police officers applied multiple painful pressure points on my left arm as they pulled it behind me, while simultaneously using force to rip the camera from my right hand,” she said.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Cox was not formally charged and said she is currently “weighing my options” as to whether to sue the RCMP. “One of the conditions of my release is, ‘keep 10 meters off any CN property or work site except as required in the normal and ordinary course of travel.’ On legal advice, I intend to continue reporting on protests at rail sites.” </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Cara Zwibel, a spokesperson for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said the filming of an arrest does not constitute obstruction in Canadian law and therefore should have been allowed by the RCMP. Meanwhile, Karyn Pugliese, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, stated it is important that reporters are able to monitor and cover the “behaviour” of police because of their bad history with the Indigenous population. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Formerly the executive director of news and current affairs at the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), Pugliese said the shooting and killing of an unarmed Ojibway man, Dudley George, by the Ontario Provincial Police at Ipperwash in 1995 might not have happened if the media had been present. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>A similar tragedy was avoided during the rail blockades that ended in March. The federal government resisted calls by the Official Opposition to send in the RCMP and other provincial police forces to arrest the “radicals,” and eventually reached a tentative settlement with the hereditary chiefs.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>From the Toronto G20 to the events in B.C., we are encountering what security historians call “political policing.” But while Toronto Police got a slap on the wrist for the G20 work, and CSIS has occasionally been sanctioned for its racial targeting of Muslims since 9/11, the Mounties are still given a free pass for their past and present abuses. According to Monaghan, it’s long past time to scale back Canada’s “racist” and “rogue” national security state, and to hold those who built and maintain it accountable. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>* This article was updated on May 6 to correct the fact that Gwinintxw is a Gitxan hereditary chief and matriarch. </em></p>
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<p dir="ltr"><em>Paul Weinberg is a freelance journalist and the recent author of </em>When Poverty Mattered: Then and Now<em> (Fernwood). </em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/international-relations-peace-and-conflict">International relations, peace and conflict</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Thu, 16 Apr 2020 15:53:13 +0000Stuart Trew15185 at https://www.policyalternatives.caThe Monitor, May/June 2020https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/monitor-mayjune-2020
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<div class="field-item even">Putting Housing Poverty on Notice</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">May 1, 2020</span></div>
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<p>In our first issue following the outbreak of COVD-19 in Canada, Monitor contributors assess the federal and provincial government responses to date and propose how we might use this moment of government activism to fix the gross inequalities in our society—by improving social programs such as employment insurance, income assistance and our health care system, for example. </p>
<p>Our cover story centres Canada's decades-old housing affordability crisis, which will compound hardship for millions of people who are out of a job, or on drastically lower hours or pay, during the "Great Lockdown" of 2020. To find all of the CCPA's work on Canada's pandemic response, see our <a href="http://behindthenumbers.ca/category/covid19/" target="_blank">Behind the Numbers blog</a>.</p>
<p>Here's a sample of what you'll find in this issue.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/canada-after-great-lockdown" target="_self">Canada after the "Great Lockdown"</a><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/us-style-ag-gag-laws-come-canada"> </a>— Monitor Editor <strong>Stuart Trew</strong> welcomes the return of activist government, but the money needs to keep flowing.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/our-opportunity-end-housing-poverty">An opportunity to end housing poverty</a> — <strong>Natasha Bulowski</strong> speaks to housing experts and city councillors about what it will take to make housing affordable and available to all.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/gig-workers-win-right-unionize">Gig workers win right to unionize in Ontario</a> — Lawyer<strong> Fathima</strong> <strong>Cader</strong> looks to the "<span>Foodsters" about how to build real-world solidarity and trust in an online age.</span></li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/workers-edge-bangladesh">Bangladeshi workers on the edge</a> — <strong>Asad Ismi</strong> interviews Canadian and Bangladeshi labour unions on how their international solidarity efforts are affected by the pandemic.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/below-fold">When artificial intelligence becomes artificial intimacy</a> — <strong>Cynhtia Khoo</strong> unpacks the brave new world of online dating and therapy chatbots.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/policing-dissent-g20-wet’suwet’en-dispute">Policing dissent, from the Toronto G20 to the Wet'suwet'en conflict</a> — <strong>Paul Weinberg</strong> looks back on the the June 2010 mass arrests and asks what has changed, if anything, in how the RCMP polices activism. </li>
</ul>
<p>We can't do this without you! Please consider <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/give" target="_blank">donating to the CCPA</a> and ask to get the <span>Monitor</span> delivered to your home or workplace.</p>
<p>Cover design by Maura Doyle.</p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/agriculture">Agriculture</a></div>
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<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Wed, 15 Apr 2020 14:56:00 +0000Stuart Trew15176 at https://www.policyalternatives.caBudget fédéral alternatif 2020https://www.policyalternatives.ca/bfa2020
<div class="field field-name-field-secondary-title field-type-text field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even">Un New Deal pour une nouvelle décennie</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">March 17, 2020</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2020/03/AFB%202020%20FR.pdf" class="download button">Download</a><div class='meta'><span class="filesize">3.11 MB</span><span class="pages">130 pages</span></div> </div>
<p>Nous publions le Budget fédéral alternatif 2020 — notre 25e édition depuis 1995 — à un moment très instable pour le Canada et le monde. La combinaison de COVID-19, une vente mondiale de pétrole et l'effondrement des marchés financiers mondiaux menace non seulement la santé et la sécurité publiques, mais aussi la stabilité de notre économie, <span>qui sera probablement en récession d'ici la fin de l'année</span>. Il est maintenant temps de penser au-delà des correctifs fiscaux standard et des plans de sauvetage des banques. C'est le moment de la solidarité sociale, du leadership gouvernemental et d'une coopération opportune et non partisane pour faire tout ce qu'il faut pour protéger le public.</p>
<p>Chaque année, le BFA élabore un plan budgétaire pour assurer la santé, la sécurité et le bien-être du public, réduire la pauvreté et les inégalités de revenus et favoriser une plus grande inclusion. Cet BFA ne fait pas exception, bien que la réalité en rapide évolution de COVID-19 — et la nécessité de réponses fluides du gouvernement — signifie que les plans présentés dans cette feuille de route doivent être considérés comme une référence. Des mesures fiscales plus audacieuses seront très probablement nécessaires dans les semaines et les mois à venir.</p>
<p>Pourtant, l'adoption des mesures dans BFA 2020 marquerait un changement important dans l'élaboration des politiques gouvernementales et placerait l'économie canadienne sur des bases plus inclusives et durables. Il le ferait sans accroître considérablement la dette du Canada à un moment où la dette publique est vraiment le moindre de nos problèmes. En ce sens, le BFA est notre nouvel accord audacieux pour une nouvelle décennie incertaine. Nous espérons que ses idées inspireront l’action du gouvernement et encourageront l’imagination du public sur ce qu’il est possible de réaliser lorsque, pour reprendre les mots de Loxley, nous commençons à «établir un budget comme si les gens comptaient».</p>
<p><strong>Chaptires</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/un-plan-pour-protéger-les-travailleurs-et-le-public-dune-crise-sans-précédent" target="_blank">Préface - Un plan pour protéger les travailleurs et le public d'une crise sans précédent</a></span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1CBe7Rg5JO-OZdfd4RUDOZYCwsBWBo33h/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Agriculture et alimentation</a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1Ck44_Oz8unlG82R1UZzFKRDM5JskwjJG/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Arts et culture</a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1Chl9HvBPzj075o4kqwse-EbiUYRB7quW/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Assurance-emploi</a></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1CdaZ4TCWlnAqMk-9bLybK9ES0aaalY6p/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Le Canada et la Décennie internationale des personnes d’ascendance africaine</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1Cd3kR9a0iV5YoKQb41baX7FSBAbTDlzV/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Commerce international</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1CpkaJPP9zxH-TuQwuQEMM_lLCs2obnXs/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Développement international</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1Co1eOUxeMUfoDQycdadqpxRDx30tge3m/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Eau</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1D4uNBnib4yQl4VdGUjrqKpfha1s59IZU/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Égalité des genres</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1D4Qb9sLHEPY8L2rl3r4kk_t9LUwlYa1Y/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Égalité raciale</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1D-ZiHUZuIw1FHEPMHv0MnjFszb7zvV8k/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Enseignement postsecondaire et formation</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1CCNTilFSksvwYwC4YsWI1sS88ZJ90DMk/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Fiscalité équitable</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1CtigYuTpq9MUBzh0VbBIWhM6AmjJ5Z61/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Garde d’enfants</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1CpxYqSrtkBfsRvNIDxxUxK3iT6WE4i54/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Immigration</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1DnQGlTHeHRW1vY_1VCV-pQD9de7xOC1c/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Infrastructure et villes</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1DmUydAwTPorbj33ZA4FY1FhCD3AeDXPJ/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Les jeunes</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1DlzXWpgjfsX1s-jB-vKget9EqqSIufdW/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Logements abordables et itinérance</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1DdQLcsf3iHRJXluyobtUEc3wzkbRwieV/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Pauvreté</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1DUlFetdAoAtmJ8IZiBs1tlvi0yTnMlsM/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Personnes âgées et retraite</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1CCtOEzPlcIE8bRRD-cYO-drVoRo-8B34/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Projections économiques et budgétaires</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1DUcAaY67S1LmkycaOa34bifwI2vOWcP3/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Protection de l’environnement</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1DGWUAx2bbfAStYcsS6ZrGbkc-39FtEUS/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Sécurité alimentaire</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1DBXha5VBVDYx89_wuNmgkFqBeQf_3Vg6/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Services, infrastructure et gouvernance des Premières Nations</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1D9p-b_62vxcqJyrqn2F6RGUxVcERiU02/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Services publics et secteur public</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1D9ZBvtJQhwb4ddGeMQTM3mHjSSr2C3a3/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Soins de santé</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1Do1hG7XCf5aQU5sCzYjtNhE-HjJg6E9E/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Transition équitable et stratégie industrielle</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Apropos du Budget fédéral alternative</strong></p>
<p>Le Budget fédéral alternatif, qui en est à sa 25e édition, est une collaboration canadienne unique fondée sur les valeurs de la justice sociale, comme la dignité humaine et la liberté, l’équité, l’égalité, la solidarité, la durabilité de l’environnement et le bien public — et une forte croyance dans le pouvoir de la démocratie participative. Cette collaboration ne serait pas possible sans les généreuses contributions bénévoles des personnes suivantes, qui proviennent d’un ensemble diversifié de secteurs, de populations et de domaines d’expertise, y compris les domaines du travail, des peuples autochtones, de la protection de l’environnement, de la lutte contre la pauvreté, de la communauté confessionnelle, des étudiants, des enseignants, des travailleurs de l’éducation et de la santé, des arts et de la culture, du développement social, du développement de l’enfant, du développement international, de la condition féminine, et des droits de la personne.</p>
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<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/agriculture">Agriculture</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/children-and-youth">Children and youth</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/education">Education</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/gender-equality">Gender equality</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/health-health-care-system-pharmacare">Health, health care system, pharmacare</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/housing-and-homelessness">Housing and homelessness</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/municipalities-and-urban-development">Municipalities and urban development</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/race-and-anti-racism">Race and anti-racism</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/seniors-issues-and-pensions">Seniors issues and pensions</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-3 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Projects:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/projects/alternative-federal-budget">Alternative Federal Budget</a></div>
</div>
</div>
Tue, 17 Mar 2020 07:00:00 +0000Stuart Trew15142 at https://www.policyalternatives.caAlternative Federal Budget 2020https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/alternative-federal-budget-2020
<div class="field field-name-field-secondary-title field-type-text field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even">New Decade, New Deal</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">March 17, 2020</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"> <div class="top-download-button">
<a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2020/03/AFB%202020.pdf" class="download button">Download</a><div class='meta'><span class="filesize">2.74 MB</span><span class="pages">118 pages</span></div> </div>
<p><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/bfa2020" target="_blank"><em>Cliquez ici pour le français</em></a></p>
<p>We release the 2020 Alternative Federal Budget—our 25<sup>th</sup> edition since 1995—at highly volatile moment for Canada and the world. The combination of COVID-19, a global oil sell-off, and the collapse of world financial markets threatens not only public health and safety, but also the stability of our economy, which will likely be in recession by the end of the year. Now is a time to think beyond the standard fiscal fixes and bank bailouts. It is a time for social solidarity, government leadership, and expedient, non-partisan co-operation to do everything it takes to protect the public. </p>
<p>Every year, the AFB maps out a fiscal plan to ensure public health, safety, and well-being, reduce poverty and income inequality and foster greater inclusion. This AFB is no exception, though the rapidly changing reality of COVID-19—and the necessity for fluid government responses—means the plans laid out in this road map should be considered a baseline. Bolder fiscal measures will most likely be required in the weeks and months to come. </p>
<p>Still, adopting the measures in AFB 2020 would mark an important shift in government policy-making and put the Canadian economy on more inclusive and sustainable foundations. It would do so without significantly adding to Canada’s debt at a time when public debt is truly the least of our problems. In that sense, the AFB is our bold new deal for an uncertain new decade. We hope its ideas will inspire government action and embolden the public imagination about what it is possible to achieve when, in Loxley’s words, we begin “budgeting as if people mattered.”</p>
<p><strong>AFB Chapters</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://behindthenumbers.ca/2020/03/17/afb2020-as-covid-19-policy-response-a-plan-to-protect-workers-and-the-public-from-an-unprecedented-crisis/" target="_blank">Preface - AFB2020 as COVID-19 policy response</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a style="font-size: 1.5rem;" href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BMH79sWqK1GJvAlhoJ_zl72KDm_omfp8/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank">Affordable housing and homelessness</a></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BG8pr7gKq87guE54jMFTyc7VS-_UOqjC/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Agriculture and food</span></a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BFpoM0PKROKdqWxWQg9x1q22nsQzQu7r/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Arts and culture</span></a></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BCWadLAetMO4dBKi5NUTxBzdV0xBQhFp/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Canada and the International Decade for People of African Descent</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BA64aouhNQ3lZFYxDL4m4mdBPo94IHw-/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Child care</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1AuDXNAn3ooWSZMzbdeTpbZdnMfmBkldW/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Economic and fiscal projections</span></a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1B8fDH0gRXUGt7yH88_JT2T46afdazCTD/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Employment insurance</span></a></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1B44kppB-QrJ_dUCbQTQJK2hW7OxBJNdd/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Environmental protection</span></a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BNbZgG-bFYhQhZs8FKWtg_Jv8u5SOPax/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Fair taxation</span></a></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BUOUoeM8zjr3ZnBUTbMoIDEEN23RkGug/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Food security</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BOH_vYzUPlDtdwc6IfWi0dc9jz-ZOekJ/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Gender equality</span></a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BOAbJaNtohvH3QmrGjc0SxKnj6MjN7Zz/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Health care</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BVgoEpxbZYSi59NWvAd9xgcFKCtoZn0h/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Immigration</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1Bfh6AtJnypjhXTvXVZ93Sr6Hyf9U8mVd/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Infrastructure and cities</span></a></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BdxyVZxyyxd3cova8cpGjo5pLhoaH-PS/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>International development</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BZV-a_Q6hpF8S8vFPZbaNC_Y99ABY2Ia/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>International trade</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1Bjxqc6VqJ78yAio3LGaQbSgg5lrrXTCZ/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Just transition and industrial strategy</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1BiMOJDABM8guTpX0ApgrmnImHetOgd0x/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Older adults and retirement</span></a></span></span></li>
<li></li>
<li></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1Bk8NTZ7EVbASofy28tO1_LcVKk501jYs/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Post-secondary education and training</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1C90Cfys_vM-qKUuXnp1QmtuKn9xQB4go/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Poverty</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1C724xOqy9JlIGlO7jzwx6doAQn46xln9/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Public services and the public sector</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1C6IZLxrxwWToXynWBduKhI7ECiX7Rdy8/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Racial equality</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1C14Qmzw1lAvVONqwGV4vjnZKO-zKoTXO/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Water</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/policyalternatives.ca/file/d/1Br8WiAdbNYu1PyabO_lXVFhii_gfuCfl/view?usp=drivesdk" target="_blank"><span>Youth</span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<p><strong style="font-size: 1.5rem;">About the AFB</strong></p>
<p>The Alternative Federal Budget, now in its 25th year, is a unique Canadian collaboration rooted in social justice values—like human dignity and freedom, fairness, equality, solidarity, environmental sustainability and the public good—and a strong belief in the power of participatory democracy. This collaboration would not be possible without the generous contributions of the following people, who come from a variety of sectors, populations and areas of expertise including human rights, labour, environmental protection, anti-poverty, arts and culture, social development, child development, international development, women, Indigenous peoples, the faith-based community, students, teachers, education and health care workers.</p>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
</div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/agriculture">Agriculture</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/children-and-youth">Children and youth</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/education">Education</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/gender-equality">Gender equality</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/health-health-care-system-pharmacare">Health, health care system, pharmacare</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/housing-and-homelessness">Housing and homelessness</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/municipalities-and-urban-development">Municipalities and urban development</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/race-and-anti-racism">Race and anti-racism</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/seniors-issues-and-pensions">Seniors issues and pensions</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-3 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Projects:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/projects/alternative-federal-budget">Alternative Federal Budget</a></div>
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</div>
Tue, 17 Mar 2020 07:00:00 +0000Stuart Trew15141 at https://www.policyalternatives.caReview: Canada's long, proud history of public enterprisehttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/review-canadas-long-proud-history-public-enterprise
<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/scott-sinclair">Scott Sinclair</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">March 2, 2020</span></div>
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<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><p><img src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61ufqtZGH3L.jpg" alt="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61ufqtZGH3L.jpg" width="200" height="300" class="image-right" /><strong> The Sport and Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich Are Stealing Canada’s Public Wealth</strong><br /> Linda McQuaig<br /> Dundurn, August 2019, $28.99</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Linda McQuaig skilfully tells the compelling story of Canada’s rich and varied history of public enterprise. In the veteran journalist and prolific author’s hands, a vital, often forgotten element of Canadian history and national identity comes to life.</p>
<p>As it turns out, Canadians are rather good at public enterprise. McQuaig turns to historians such as H.V. Nelles to explain this. He argued this tradition was a response to our unique political economy, an assertion of independence from our huge southern neighbour, and a corrective to the narrow-minded conservatism of Canada’s business elites.</p>
<p>The book recounts the creation of public electricity in Ontario in the early 20<sup>th</sup> century; the development of insulin, vaccines and other life-saving medicines in publicly owned labs; the building of the Canadian National Railway, which in turn spurred the rise of public broadcasting; and the remarkable success and popularity of public banking in the post-Confederation period.</p>
<p>Recovering this historical memory is far from a purely academic exercise. McQuaig convincingly argues that public enterprise, which has been unremittingly disparaged and dismantled over the last half century, is the best option to rebuild Canada’s decaying infrastructure, meet social needs such as those of the unbanked, confront the impending climate emergency, and more.</p>
<p>The book revisits the regrettably thwarted efforts of Peter Lougheed, Trudeau the elder and, much later, former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams to challenge control of the oil sector by foreign multinationals and win greater public benefits from this publicly owned resource. She contrasts the precarious state of public finances in free-enterprise Alberta with Norway, which pioneered a state-led approach and has amassed an impressive rainy-day fund for when the oil inevitably stops flowing.</p>
<p>By reclaiming the past, McQuaig illuminates the persisting advantages of public enterprise. Foremost among these are the ability to pursue the common good, and the capacity to think long-term and meet those needs (such as developing medicines for rare diseases) spurned or exploited by the private sector. Other advantages include not needing to turn a profit, the financial stability and attractive financing imparted by government backing, and, not least, the ability to attract talented innovators and dedicated workers motivated by the call to public service.</p>
<p>McQuaig stresses that the creation of public enterprise involved not only vision but political struggle. From publicly owned hydroelectricity to medicare, public enterprise has been fiercely resisted by entrenched commercial interests.</p>
<p>She also debunks the myths that under free-market capitalism the state simply sits on the sidelines as a neutral arbiter. The liberal state is interventionist, but typically to support its friends in the corporate sector.</p>
<p>For example, in an effort to staunch the rising tide of support for publicly owned electricity in Ontario, then­–premier George William Ross amended the Municipal Act to prevent local governments from competing with private utilities. His obstructionism led to him being thrown out of office in 1905, clearing the way for the province’s rapid electrification under public ownership.</p>
<p>Catchy slogans, like former Alberta premier Ralph Klein’s “get government out of the business of business,” mask a cozy and collaborative relationship between supposedly free-enterprise governments and the private sector. Public revenues are foregone or channelled in support of private profit. Public protections are weakened under the banner of reducing red tape.</p>
<p>Today, as McQuaig deftly explains, the Trudeau government has twisted the sensible idea of a public infrastructure bank into what amounts to a giant slush fund for its pals in the private sector, such as private equity mogul Larry Fink, whose BlackRock minions were even invited to help federal officials draw up plans for the bank.</p>
<p>Anyone who doubts the perils and pitfalls of the private-equity approach should read McQuaig’s chapter, “The worst deal of the century,” on Ontario’s Highway 407 privatization boondoggle. This deal has cost the Ontario public tens of billions of dollars in foregone revenues and left a vital provincial transportation artery under private, foreign control.</p>
<p>On the other hand, once they are established, public enterprises are typically so successful that they command strong support both from the public and even parts of the business community. That makes them hard to dislodge, even when facing strong corporate opposition.</p>
<p>In the face of climate change, rising inequality and populist disenchantment, the case for public enterprise is today as compelling as ever. McQuaig lays out an inspiring array of possibilities, including publicly researching and manufacturing medicines, creating a postal banking service, and manufacturing electric buses and vehicles by taking over Oshawa’s world class facility left idle by corporate outsourcing.</p>
<p>This is an important book. McQuaig makes a convincing case for the revitalization of public enterprise. By doing so, we can tap into our traditions, expose and outsmart elites clinging to their privileges, and unleash our inherent instincts to serve our communities and the public good.</p>
<hr />
<p><em>Scott Sinclair is Director of the CCPA's Trade and Investment Research Project.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/health-health-care-system-pharmacare">Health, health care system, pharmacare</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/municipalities-and-urban-development">Municipalities and urban development</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
</div>
</div>
Tue, 25 Feb 2020 18:58:10 +0000Stuart Trew15113 at https://www.policyalternatives.caAFB meet GNDhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/afb-meet-gnd
<div class="field field-name-field-secondary-title field-type-text field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even">What role might the Alternative Federal Budget play in fleshing out the details of a Green New Deal for Canada?</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/stuart-trew">Stuart Trew</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/authors/hadrian-mertins-kirkwood">Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">March 2, 2020</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p style="text-align: right;"> <img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/RTX78WSU.jpg" alt="Bernie Sanders at GND housing announcement" width="800" height="534" /><sup><strong>REUTERS/ERIN SCOTT</strong></sup></p>
<p>The idea of a Green New Deal—a radical and comprehensive transformation of the economy to cut greenhouse gas emissions while tackling inequality—has been gaining steam over the past few decades as an organizing principle for the environmental and social justice movements. But it wasn’t until 2019 that the GND exploded into the mainstream. Democrats in the U.S. Congress brought the idea to widespread public attention when they introduced a resolution on a Green New Deal last February. Although it never became law, the resolution galvanized U.S. activists and resonated around the world with its progressive rationale and blueprint for ambitious legislative action.</p>
<p>In Canada, the Pact for a Green New Deal, a large and growing citizens movement, brought together thousands of Canadians at more than 150 town halls across the country last year to explore a GND for Canada. Recommendations and next steps are expected in 2020. Most recently, Peter Julian of the federal New Democratic Party introduced a Green New Deal motion in Parliament. It is a concise and transformative legislative framework for a sustainable and inclusive Canadian economy.</p>
<p>What does a Green New Deal look like? Different advocates have advanced several visions, but the general principles are more or less the same in each:</p>
<ol>
<li>We face a climate crisis that requires rapid, global decarbonization, chiefly but not exclusively through the replacement of fossil fuels by cleaner energy sources.</li>
<li>We face an inequality crisis that requires massive redistribution of income and wealth, and the political power it buys, away from an entrenched elite and toward citizens.</li>
<li>Canada remains a colonial state that was built on and still facilitates the expropriation of Indigenous lands and livelihoods. Genuine reconciliation with Indigenous peoples will require the transformation of federal­–Indigenous relations in line with principles enshrined in the UN Declaration of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).</li>
<li>Any just transition to a more sustainable world must be accompanied by a hopeful, inspirational vision for the future that includes good jobs, vibrant communities, widespread social and economic well-being, and general good times all around.</li>
</ol>
<p>The details matter, of course, and there are many questions that GND advocates have yet to think through or agree on. For example, how can we produce enough electricity to rapidly replace all fossil fuels if we preclude new, large-scale hydro and nuclear projects in our communities? Where will we mine the environmentally harmful resources necessary to produce lower-emission technologies? Will new, green jobs be good, unionized jobs that are accessible in the places where jobs are needed most?</p>
<p>Furthermore, how will we pay for it all? Although inaction will be more expensive in the long term, the price tag of any Green New Deal in the short term is in the trillions of dollars for Canada alone. Even with unprecedented public spending, governments do not currently have the capacity to fund this transition in full, which means private capital needs to be incentivized or coerced into action.</p>
<p>The good news is we needn’t start from scratch. GND advocates, such as Naomi Klein, the U.K. economist Ann Pettifor, and a host of bright, young U.S. socialists including Kate Aronoff, Alyssa Battistoni, Thea Riofrancos and Daniel Aldana Cohen, among others, have laid out a number of workable answers, including many that are featured in the Alternative Federal Budget the CCPA co-ordinates each year with dozens of partner organizations and activists.</p>
<p>For example, both the AFB and GND crowd have called for cracking down on tax havens, tax loopholes and fossil fuel subsidies to help fund a transformative social and environmental agenda. Public banks, increased carbon taxation, green bonds and steeper deficit financing are other AFB mainstays that double as GND options for accelerating the just transition.</p>
<p>All these commonalities—in particular the GND’s insistence on democratizing our economies and using the climate emergency as a catalyst to rapidly roll-out new and enhanced, socially equalizing public services—got us seeing the Alternative Federal Budget, now in its 25<sup>th</sup> year, in a brand new light. Was the AFB a proto–Green New Deal in the making? Or, more proactively, can we make use of alternative budgeting to develop the detailed fiscal plan that will make the GND a reality in Canada?</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>Twenty-five years ago, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives joined forces with the Winnipeg-based Cho!ces coalition to draft the first Alternative Federal Budget (AFB). There were two main objectives to the exercise, according to John Loxley, an original co-ordinator of the AFB and first chairperson of Cho!ces. The first was to demonstrate that “there are, indeed, alternative approaches to economic and social policy.”</p>
<p>Budgets are not merely legers to be balanced by skilled fiscal technocrats; they reflect the values and ambitions of the people who put them together. At the dawn of a new decade, in which the actions of governments will decide whether we succeed or fail to confront the climate emergency, those choices have never felt more important.</p>
<p>A second, related goal of the AFB was to build popular support for progressive alternatives to government austerity and to show how they are fiscally achievable. This was especially important in the project’s early days.</p>
<p>An anti-deficit delirium had set in across Canada in the 1990s based on overblown fears about the country’s debt and a one-sided debate about how to reduce it. Then finance minister Paul Martin’s insistence on cuts—to government services and programs, to provincial transfer payments, to public sector wages—as a way to shrink Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio was, we argued, a choice, not an inevitability. To prove it, the 1995 Alternative Federal Budget modelled a scenario where the deficit was reduced to 3% of GDP (the government’s own target that year) while social spending was maintained or increased in some areas.</p>
<p>Much has changed in Canada since those days, some of it for the better. Canadians are less inclined today to believe political rhetoric about the alleged menace posed by government deficits, for example. Many analysts suggested the Liberal victory in the 2015 election may have been attributable, at least in part, to Trudeau’s promise to run deficits to pay for his party’s “Real Change” platform. Although the NDP was calling for many fair tax reforms advocated by the AFB, which would have allowed the government to redistribute Canada’s wealth toward sustainable job growth, the party’s determination to appear “fiscally conservative” backfired. The Canadian public was apparently willing to incur relatively higher deficits if it meant bigger spending on social services and infrastructure.</p>
<p>Circumstances, and priorities, have also changed in more fundamental ways since the deficit-slashing 1990s. The Mulroney government had been a key player in the development of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). But it and subsequent governments ignored commitments to bring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions down to 1990 levels by the year 2000. Then starting around that year, consecutive governments actively supported (with subsidies and other measures) a rapid expansion of heavily polluting tar sands oil production and worked to undermine U.S. and European actions that might threaten this trajectory.<sup> <br /></sup></p>
<p>At a low point for Canadian politics, the Harper government likened Canadian climate justice activists and Indigenous communities who opposed new fossil fuel infrastructure to foreign-funded terrorists. The violent RCMP crackdown on Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their allies in early February, which included the suppression of press freedom, are a sign of how entrenched this dangerous and deluded attitude has become within the Canadian state.</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screen%20Shot%202020-02-24%20at%2012.58.40%20PM.png" width="814" height="913" /></p>
<p><strong><sup>Source: Statistics Canada Table 25-10-0014-01, Crude oil and equivalent, monthly supply and disposition (x 1,000).</sup></strong></p>
<p>Global inaction on climate change has resulted in a situation where, according to the IPCC, we now have less than a decade to cut GHG emissions in half, on a path to net zero emissions by 2050­, if we are to avoid the worst impacts of the climate emergency. Considering the herculean effort entailed in decarbonizing the Canadian economy, the days of humdrum, fiscally balanced budgets may need to be put behind us indefinitely.</p>
<p>And contrary to the popular narrative in Canada, we are not the reckless first movers, sticking out our necks while the rest of the world clings to the status quo. Across the globe, governments and political movements are raising their climate ambitions. The European Commission recently unveiled a trillion-euro investment plan to decarbonize the European Union by 2050. New Zealand and others have committed to phasing out fossil fuel production entirely. In the United States, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has proposed spending US$16.3 trillion (84% of GDP) on a Green New Deal to reach 100% renewable energy for electricity and transportation by 2030 and full decarbonization by the 2050 target.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>Given the scale of today’s challenges, it is extremely disappointing that our government still manages its revenues and spending much the same as it did when we launched our first AFB 25 years ago. Modest federal deficit spending aside, the assumptions driving budgetary decisions are locked in the past.</p>
<p>New revenues from economic growth have been used to cut taxes for businesses and wealthier Canadians when that money could have further enriched measures and programs to reduce inequality, eradicate poverty and meet the climate emergency head-on. The government’s first action in this post-election parliamentary session was to spend a further $6 billion a year on another “middle class tax cut” that leaves, at most, $15 a month in the pockets of people who will barely notice it.</p>
<p>There have been promising social investments since 2015—in housing, child care, arts and culture, and infrastructure, among other areas—and commitments to seeking equity for Indigenous, racialized, LGBTQ2S+, disabled and other historically marginalized communities. There have also been some steps taken to make Canada’s tax system fairer and more fiscally sustainable, such as the closure of income-splitting loopholes that mainly benefited Canada’s highest-income earners, and enhancements to the Canada Revenue Agency’s ability to go after corporate and high-wealth tax cheats. These and other measures, notably the Canada Child Benefit, have been mainstays of the AFB for years.</p>
<p>However, as long as this government holds firm to an ideological belief that incentivizing private sector–led growth and finding “market” solutions is <em>always</em> preferable to government-led progress, we will remain needlessly constrained in what we can do to create good, sustainable jobs and help the most vulnerable among us.</p>
<p>The federal carbon tax is a good thing, for example. But why is there no solid plan to use the revenues to fund sustainable, emissions-reducing public infrastructure (e.g., free public transit), or to help workers in the fossil fuel sector and their communities make a just transition to a decarbonized economy? Why is municipal access to the new $200 billion infrastructure bank contingent on private sector co-financiers making a 7–9% profit on their investment?</p>
<p>The reason is simple. A quarter-century of neoliberal dogma, much but not all of it enforced in binding international trade treaties, has succeeded in limiting both the imagination and real policy flexibility of decision-makers. Our governments are either encouraged or required to choose from an ever-narrowing array of acceptable fiscal and economic options that have, over the last three decades, increasingly privatized prosperity and socialized risk and debt.</p>
<p>By now most Canadians are familiar with the graph showing stagnating real (after inflation) wage growth alongside runaway income gains at the very top. If little has been done to lower greenhouse gas emissions (Argentina's Esperanza Antarctica station announced a record-breaking temperature of of 18.5 degrees Celsius on February 6—see photo), even less is going on to counter our age’s outrageous levels of inequality. A decade after the biggest financial crisis of our time, banks and tech giants are raking in record profits and, in many cases, avoiding paying any taxes at all. </p>
<p><strong><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQGxRADW4AE9kQM?format=jpg&amp;name=large" alt="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EQGxRADW4AE9kQM?format=jpg&amp;name=large" width="200" class="image-right" /></strong></p>
<p>The current mood is now one of deep skepticism for the status quo, not just in Canada but across the globe. Parties who fail to respond are being voted out of office and chanted into submission by mass demonstrations (see the feature in this issue by James Clark).</p>
<p>The effectiveness of fake news may be as much a symptom of disenfranchisement as it is a statement of the power of new social media technologies; rising support for anti-immigrant populist messaging also cannot be disentangled from the widening social inequality of the neoliberal era. History shows us how quickly public dissatisfaction can turn to cynicism, and much worse, when enough people do not see their lives and priorities reflected in government actions.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>More than ever, the 2020 Alternative Federal Budget (out in March) is a blueprint for meaningful social engagement and positive change that both the federal governments and Green New Deal advocates would do well to consult. The ideas in its pages are good ones, the result of broad discussions between partner organizations with roots in frontline struggles for justice, equity and a just transition off fossil fuels.</p>
<p>“In creating these budgets,” explained Loxley in 2003, “activists learned about the possibilities and the limits of reform and gained greater credibility and confidence in agitating for social change and in opposing regressive government policies. This process of submitting policy ideas to a disciplined analysis in an open and socially inclusive forum represents a unique accomplishment.”</p>
<p>Following AFB tradition, our 2020 edition is not a “blue sky” wish-list for the government in power. The plan incorporates the government’s own economic growth and deficit forecasts so that we can show what more is possible even given the same constraints, whether or not they are real or self-imposed.</p>
<p>For example, where the Trudeau government has planned to run a $28-billion deficit this fiscal year, dropping to $18.5 billion by 2022-23, the AFB logs a slightly larger $42.5-billion deficit this year and a $20.5-billion deficit in 2022-23. We can do this while significantly expanding public spending by closing unfair tax loopholes, applying higher taxes to extreme personal and corporate wealth, and eliminating or diverting harmful spending such as the billions of dollars Canada spends annually on subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.</p>
<p>Still, at the end of the day, both the AFB and federal government maintain relatively low debt-to-GDP ratios of around 30% over the next three years. This conservative fiscal costing does not make the AFB plan any less ambitious, nor does it mean it can’t get us to where we need to be as envisioned in most Green New Deal scenarios.</p>
<p>In fact, according to our estimates, AFB 2020 would lift between 500,000 and 1.2 million people out of poverty (depending on how poverty is measured) in its first year and eliminate poverty outright within a decade. And it would substantially lower the cost of living for all but the wealthiest Canadians (see graph on this page). All this while restructuring the Canadian economy to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a National Decarbonization Strategy that includes a clear timeline for the phase out of most oil and gas extraction by 2040.</p>
<p>The AFB vastly expands the availability of affordable child care, creating a universal pharmacare program, increasing the supply of affordable and supportive housing, and expanding mental health care services and services specifically targeted to older people. AFB 2020 reforms employment insurance, the Guaranteed Income Supplement and old age security payments so they deliver more in benefits to more people. Post-secondary tuition fees are eliminated, while the Canada Child Benefit, immigration settlement services and other rights and benefits are extended to everyone regardless of their immigration or citizenship status.</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screen%20Shot%202020-02-24%20at%201.03.17%20PM.png" width="831" height="891" /></p>
<p>The AFB also pursues a just transition to a cleaner economy for those workers and communities most affected by ambitious climate policies, such as the phaseout of oil and gas production. We propose direct investment in hard hit communities to diversify the economy and create new jobs. The AFB also creates new funding to train new workers, especially those from historically excluded groups, for good jobs in the clean economy.</p>
<p>Canada’s history of colonialism and the state’s role in the genocide of First Peoples, its economic links to the North Atlantic slave trade, and more recent examples of state-sanctioned discrimination leave a long shadow. Official apologies alone are not enough. In addition to targeted social programs, better data collection on how racialized groups from all backgrounds—Black and African-diaspora Canadians, Indigenous peoples, new immigrants, etc.—are faring, as repeatedly called for in the AFB, can help us target and remove structural racism from our political and economic institutions.</p>
<p>Providing a transformative vision for the future that both acknowledges and challenges current political and economic conditions is especially important as the political salience of the Green New Deal grows. As the climate crisis deepens and the demand for alternatives swells, we can only expect the GND to attract more and more serious attention in the coming years. Advocates need a clear and practical agenda to make the most of this opportunity without sacrificing either environmental or social prerogatives. The AFB can help in this respect. </p>
<p>Adopting all the AFB 2020 actions would mark an important shift in government policy-making and put the Canadian economy on more inclusive and sustainable foundations. It would do so without significantly adding to Canada’s debt at a time when public debt is truly the least of our problems.</p>
<p>In that sense, the AFB shares many of the same objectives of the growing Green New Deal movement in Canada. It is our bold new deal for an uncertain new decade. We hope its ideas will inspire government action and embolden the public imagination about what it is possible to achieve when, in Loxley’s words, we begin “budgeting as if people mattered.”</p>
<hr />
<p><em>Stuart Trew is Senior Editor of the Monitor and Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood is Senior Researcher with the CCPA’s national office. </em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/gender-equality">Gender equality</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/health-health-care-system-pharmacare">Health, health care system, pharmacare</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/housing-and-homelessness">Housing and homelessness</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/municipalities-and-urban-development">Municipalities and urban development</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/race-and-anti-racism">Race and anti-racism</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/seniors-issues-and-pensions">Seniors issues and pensions</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Mon, 24 Feb 2020 18:05:04 +0000Stuart Trew15103 at https://www.policyalternatives.caThe Monitor, Mar/Apr 2020https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/monitor-marapr-2020
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<p>The idea of a Green New Deal—a radical and comprehensive transformation of the economy to cut greenhouse gas emissions while tackling inequality—has been gaining steam as an organizing principle for the environmental and social justice movements. Yet there are many questions that GND advocates have yet to think through or agree on. Like how can we produce enough electricity to rapidly replace all fossil fuels? Will new, green jobs be good, unionized jobs that are accessible in the places where jobs are needed most? Crucially, how will we pay for it all?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/afb-meet-gnd" target="_self">In our March/April 2020 cover feature</a>, <strong>Stuart Trew</strong> and <strong>Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood</strong> find a lot in common between the Green New Deal and the annual Alternative Federal Budget. Both have called for cracking down on tax havens, tax loopholes and fossil fuel subsidies to help fund a transformative social and environmental agenda, for example. Public banks, increased carbon taxation, green bonds and steeper deficit financing are other AFB mainstays that double as GND options for accelerating the just transition. Was the AFB a proto–Green New Deal in the making? Or, more proactively, can we make use of alternative budgeting to develop the detailed fiscal plan that will make the GND a reality in Canada?</p>
<p>Also in this issue:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/us-style-ag-gag-laws-come-canada">U.S.-style "ag-gag" laws come to Canada </a>— <strong>Camile Labchuk</strong> warns of the threats to civil and animal rights in provincial anti-farm-trespass laws.</li>
<li><a href="http://behindthenumbers.ca/2020/02/10/reflections-on-my-big-obama-moment/">Colour-coded Justice</a> — In his latest column, <strong>Anthony Morgan</strong> describes his exhilarating and disappointing "Big Obama Moment."</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/us-canada-side-fanatical-coup-regime-bolivia">Canada endorses fundamentalist coup in Bolivia</a> — <strong>Asad Ismi</strong>'s feature on the geopolitics of the West-backed coup.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/missing-links-disability-equality-canada">The missing link to disability equality</a> — <strong>John Rae</strong> lists five ways to get persons with disabilities off the sidelines of society.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/review-canadas-long-proud-history-public-enterprise">Canada's proud history of public enterprise</a> — <strong>Scott Sinclair</strong> reviews Linda McQuaig's timely new book, <em>The Sport and Prey of Capitalists</em>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/provincial-progress-campaign-end-period-poverty-canada">Ending period poverty in Canada, one province at a time</a> — <strong>Arushana Suderaeson</strong> surveys provincial action to make menstrual products free and accessible.</li>
</ul>
<p>We can't do this without you! Please consider <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/give" target="_blank">donating to the CCPA</a> and ask to get the <em>Monitor</em> delivered to your home or workplace.</p>
<p>Cover design by Tim Scarth.</p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/agriculture">Agriculture</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/children-and-youth">Children and youth</a></div>
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<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/gender-equality">Gender equality</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/health-health-care-system-pharmacare">Health, health care system, pharmacare</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/housing-and-homelessness">Housing and homelessness</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/law-and-legal-issues">Law and legal issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/municipalities-and-urban-development">Municipalities and urban development</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/race-and-anti-racism">Race and anti-racism</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/seniors-issues-and-pensions">Seniors issues and pensions</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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Mon, 24 Feb 2020 17:54:22 +0000Stuart Trew15102 at https://www.policyalternatives.caStalemate in Ecuadorhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/stalemate-ecuador
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<div class="field-item even">Mass protests reverse Moreno government’s austerity package, but authoritarian dangers lurk.</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/asad-ismi">Asad Ismi</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/EcuadorPhoto.jpg" alt="Two people are arrested by police in Ecuador" width="600" height="391" /><sup><strong><strong>Riot police detain demonstrators in Quito protesting Lenin Moreno's cancelation of fuel subsidies in early October. REUTERS/Daniel Tapia.</strong></strong></sup></p>
<p>During the last months of 2019, large-scale protests against neoliberalism, corruption, inequality and poverty were flaring in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Indonesia, Algeria, France and Chile. The mass protests in Ecuador in October were provoked by an austerity agreement signed by the government of President Lenín Moreno with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a $4.2 billion loan. Had the deal gone through, Ecuador had promised to fire thousands of state workers, lower public sector salaries, raise taxes, cut public investment and increase gasoline prices by 30%.</p>
<p>This last promise particularly angered protesters, who “paralyzed the economy” for 10 days, stopping Ecuador’s oil exports in the process. The IMF’s loan conditions are notorious for destroying many economies in the Global South by imposing neoliberal “structural adjustment” on recipient countries since the 1980s. Moreno’s latest deal was called out for what it was: an unreasonable, unnecessary and ideologically driven bargain with the country’s conservative political forces and the economic elite.</p>
<p>The demonstrations in Ecuador lasted from October 3 to 13, culminating in an agreement between Moreno and Indigenous protesters whereby the president cancelled the austerity agreement and the demonstrations ended. Moreno’s security forces’ brutal assaults on protesters left seven people dead, 1,340 injured and 1,152 arrested.</p>
<p>“In a country that has seen very little unrest on a significant scale for the last 12 years, the deaths of seven people in less than 10 days is anything but normal,” write journalist Mohammed Hamarsha and linguist Cloe Perol in an article for the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA). The article quotes a volunteer who was helping the Indigenous protesters and who holds the Moreno government responsible for the violence. “We are Ecuadorian people; we are all united in this,” she tells them. “And many of us are outraged by so many deaths for so much violence, that it is by the state, by the national police, and the military.”</p>
<p>The protests began when transport workers went on strike to protest cuts to fuel subsidies, triggering the Moreno government to call a national emergency. Two Indigenous organizations, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE), joined the striking workers on the streets.</p>
<p>When the transport unions struck a deal with the government—a guarantee of some kind of relief for the sector from higher oil prices—the Indigenous groups took a leadership role in the protests, bringing 7,000 people to Quito, Ecuador’s capital. They were soon joined by labour unions, students and other citizens’ groups. All told, an estimated 40,000 protestors would face off against the police and army that attacked them with guns, tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons. The government temporarily moved its offices to the coastal city of Guayaquil.</p>
<p>Indigenous nations make up 7% of Ecuador’s population and are disproportionately poor compared to other citizens. Increasing fuel prices would have been especially hard for Indigenous small farmers who depend on cheap transport to bring their goods to markets affordably. One Indigenous bean and squash farmer who went to Quito to protest told <em>Bloomberg News </em>he spends about $120 per month on transportation and is concerned his costs would rise steeply if the reforms went into effect.</p>
<p>“The Moreno government wants to force us to accept these economic measures but will forgive high amount of debts of bankers and large companies, says Ñusta Sánchez (Kichwa), an Indigenous youth fellow with Cultural Survival, in an interview posted to the organization’s website. “They are violating our rights to express ourselves, to live in a quiet place and more than anything else we have the right to protest because we disagree. There are people who have little and these measures cause more poverty.”</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>“The loan was not needed by Ecuador,” says Andrés Arauz Galarza, who was general director of Ecuador’s central bank during the socialist government of former president Rafael Correa (2007–2017). “Ecuador had sufficient ways to finance its public expenditures with taxes, oil revenues and domestic debt. If necessary, it could issue bonds in the capital markets.</p>
<p>“However, Moreno asked for the IMF loan to anchor the economic policy in the medium term towards a neoliberal agenda,” he tells me. “Most important in the agenda was the privatization of the central bank governance and the privatization of public assets.”</p>
<p>Moreno was vice-president under Correa from 2007 to 2013 and ran for office on a leftist platform as a candidate of Correa’s party Alianza PAIS. But after winning the presidency in 2017, Moreno rejected Correa’s progressive policies and shifted to the right—giving a military base to the U.S., handing over Julian Assange to British authorities and inviting the IMF into Ecuador.</p>
<p>Guillaume Long, who served as Ecuador’s foreign minister under Correa, tells me Moreno inherited a stable economy in spite of two very difficult years (2015 and 2016) when the price of Ecuador’s commodity exports collapsed causing “the biggest external shock since 1948.” Correa was able to shorten the recession “through the implementation of a number of measures to protect national production and employment, and thanks to a major tax reform,” says Long. By May 2017, when Moreno took office, “the economy had recovered and was growing at 2.5% again.”</p>
<p>According to Long, the fake economic crisis that Moreno has invented was firstly meant to hurt Correa, who is his main political opponent in Ecuador. The president accused Corea of orchestrating the protests from Belgium, where he currently resides, and of planning a coup against the current government. </p>
<p>The second reason the government is fomenting panic is “to prepare the people for the shock therapy Moreno and his economists wished to carry out,” Long adds. “Essentially a pro-elite, neoliberal structural adjustment program that would deregulate the economy and compromise the development model privileged during Correa’s government.”</p>
<p>To justify austerity measures, Moreno argues that Ecuador’s budget deficit and external debt are too high and need reduction. While both have increased over the past five years, so has Ecuador’s GDP. Meanwhile, Moreno’s economic policy, which went into effect in August 2018, included tax amnesty provisions that have resulted in about US$3 billion in corporate taxes being forgiven by his government. Cancelling fuel subsidies, had the IMF-agreed plan gone ahead, would have raised only US$1.3 billion for the government in a US$103-billion economy.</p>
<p>“What is truly interesting to witness is how Ecuadorians have become wise to this manipulation,” says Long. “A majority of Ecuadorian citizens are deeply opposed to these policies and to the IMF and its recipes.”</p>
<p>The Ecuadorean National Assembly unexpectedly scuttled the rest of Moreno’s neoliberalization plans, at least for now, by rejecting his proposed monetary and tax reform package on November 17, 2019. “[T]hat would have meant a full neoliberal revolution in the tax, planning, fiscal, monetary and financial deregulation sphere,” as Arauz puts it. But Ecuador’s elite has nowhere else to go and Moreno remains very much their man in government.</p>
<p>“Moreno does not really exist politically,” says Long. “He was sustained during the protest…by the elites and the army. He is essentially a weak puppet, used by those who wish to banish Correa from political life in Ecuador.”</p>
<p>“It is important to understand that the only way the current authoritarian alliance has managed to keep ‘correismo’ at bay is by jailing its leaders,” Long continues. Immediately after the end of the protests, the government initiated “a major crackdown on the democratic opposition…something which takes us back to the…military dictatorships of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and something we are seeing throughout South America at the moment.”</p>
<p>The police raided the home of Paola Pabón, governor of the province of Pichincha, arrested the Correa ally and accused her of supporting an armed rebellion. Several other opposition figures got the same treatment while still others fled to the Mexican embassy where they have been granted asylum or left the country.</p>
<p>Drawing parallels to the right-wing coup last year in Bolivia, Long says “this is the most authoritarian it has been in Ecuadorian history, certainly in my generation, and arguably for decades.”</p>
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<p><em><strong>Asad Ismi</strong> covers international affairs for the Monitor. <br /></em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Fri, 21 Feb 2020 16:08:31 +0000Stuart Trew15099 at https://www.policyalternatives.caBC Solutions: News and commentary from the CCPA’s BC Officehttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/bc-solutions-news-and-commentary-ccpa%E2%80%99s-bc-office-0
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/marie-aspiazu">Marie Aspiazu</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/authors/shannon-daub">Shannon Daub</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/emira-mears">Emira Mears</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/authors/terra-poirier">Terra Poirier</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 6, 2020</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/BC%20Office/2020/01/ccpa-bc_BCSolutions_Jan2020.pdf" class="download button">Download</a><div class='meta'><span class="filesize">2 MB</span><span class="pages">12 pages</span></div> </div>
<p><strong>In this issue:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Celebrating excellence in research</li>
<li>The Canada Pension Plan is fuelling the climate crisis</li>
<li>Affordable non-market rental housing</li>
<li>Expanding the affordability conversation</li>
<li>When it comes to climate action, the public is ahead of our polictics</li>
<li>Inquiry into gig work needed in BC</li>
<li>2019 Rosenbluth lecture recap</li>
<li>BC government fossil fuel subsidy data finally made public</li>
<li>Our annual gala in pictures</li>
<li>Donor spotlight: Bob and Sue Evans</li>
<li>CMP Conference 2020 </li>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/bc">BC Office</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/housing-and-homelessness">Housing and homelessness</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/bc-solutions-magazine">BC Solutions Magazine</a></div>
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Thu, 30 Jan 2020 00:49:04 +0000Marie Aspiazu15085 at https://www.policyalternatives.caCCPA @ 40https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/ccpa-40
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<div class="field-item even">A how-to guide for social transformation</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/stuart-trew">Stuart Trew</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 2, 2020</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p>When the CCPA was founded 40 years ago, it was in direct opposition to a handful of right-wing, “free market” policy groups who, despite being on the political scene for only a few years, had become influential in the halls of government and the news media. From their earliest days, these think-tanks aimed to weaken public faith in government’s ability to do good in people’s lives.</p>
<p>Rather than try to balance priorities like full employment, regional development and environmental protection, they proclaimed, government’s preoccupation should be the “free” exchange of commodities (goods or services) by whatever company (Canadian or otherwise) can do it most efficiently (i.e., cheapest). State agencies should integrate business input and methods at every step of the decision-making process. Corporate income taxes must come down. Public services should be turned over to the private sector.</p>
<p>This ideological project called neoliberalism got a boost when Margaret Thatcher declared “there is no alternative” to the market economy. On this continent, the Jimmy Carter administration started the U.S. on the deregulatory path; Ronald Reagan pressed the accelerator pedal. Brian Mulroney would toe the neoliberal line in Canada, privatizing state enterprises, deregulating telcos, air transport and other sectors, and abandoning regional development to multinational demands for continental integration in the Canada–U.S. Free Trade Agreement and later NAFTA.</p>
<p>Jumping into the fray, the CCPA set out to prove there <em>were</em> alternatives to this anti-government, anti-worker and antisocial agenda. We strongly criticized federal and provincial deregulation and pandering to the corporate sector, and allied ourselves with labour unions, students, Indigenous groups, the environmental movement and others to push a more human version of economics. In the process, as William K. Carroll and David Huxtable wrote in 2012, the centre “helped form…a social democratic community of practice, committed to reforming and possibly transforming Canada into a more just, ecologically sustainable society.”</p>
<p>Today, on the threshold of climatic breakdown and with inequality at historic levels in much of the world, the moral bankruptcy of the neoliberal project is all too apparent. There is no market-based way out of this mess. Randomly put your finger on a world map while blindfolded and you have a 50/50 chance of touching a country embroiled in mass unrest related to neoliberal austerity, absentee government and the failure of political parties to think outside the “free market” box.</p>
<p>Yet in Canada there are now 20 times the number of think-tanks on the scene as when the CCPA was founded in 1980 and virtually all of them work within the narrow confines of economic orthodoxy. They are still influential with civil servants and political parties and are quoted regularly in the news. Nationally and internationally Canada endorses progressive sounding variations on the neoliberal theme: environmental policy, housing and other infrastructure initiatives, and even foreign aid are fine and good as long as someone in the private sector realizes a return on their investment.</p>
<p>It seems to me the CCPA is even more essential today than it was 40 years ago. But how and in what ways? I asked a few colleagues to help me answer that question.</p>
<p>CCPA research “provides a focal point for progressives—academic, labour and civil society—so that we may develop thoughtful, reflective positions and policy that allow us to redraw the limits of what's possible,” said Erika Shaker, interim national director of the CCPA. We show “how different political choices would reduce inequality and produce more equitable and sustainable societies.”</p>
<p>David Macdonald, a senior economist in our national office, highlighted the “hardcore quantitative analysis” we do to understand key domestic issues. “Numbers and economics are often used to obfuscate the operation of power,” he said. The CCPA, on the other hand, wields numbers to strengthen the case for social justice–based reforms to policy, law and government practices.</p>
<p>Simon Enoch, director of the CCPA-Saskatchewan, likened our work to “a how-to-guide” for the Canadian left. “Want to de-commodify essential aspects of our lives? Here’s what we could do," he said. "Want to ensure an energy transition that leaves nobody behind? This is what we could do.”</p>
<p>I like that idea a lot. For one thing, the CCPA’s work across Canada backs it up again and again (see pages 14-15 for some highlights from 2019). But more importantly, I think Simon’s point gets to the heart of what the CCPA offers in this time of political uncertainty and transition.</p>
<p>With the right priorities and effective policies, government <em>can</em> be a force for good in people’s lives. Neoliberalism’s light is fading, but there are no guarantees it won’t be replaced with something much worse. As long as the CCPA is here, and with your support, we promise to be an unmovable voice for social, economic and environmental justice—for today and the next 40 years.</p>
<p><strong>The Monitor goes back to school</strong></p>
<p>Finally, I’m very excited to draw your attention to the entirely unique magazine wedged into the middle of this one. From now on, twice a year, the <em>Monitor</em> will include a full issue of <em>Our Schools / Our Selves</em> (OS/OS), the voice of progressive education in Canada, which the CCPA has been publishing since 2000 under the editorship of Erika Shaker. Let us know how you like it!</p>
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<p><em>Stuart Trew is Senior Editor of the Monitor and an occasional trade researcher with the CCPA.</em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/federal-election">Federal election</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Fri, 20 Dec 2019 16:35:16 +0000Stuart Trew15067 at https://www.policyalternatives.caThe future is in our hands—not theirshttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/future-our-hands%E2%80%94not-theirs
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<div class="field-item even"> The youth-led climate movement is intent on passing Green New Deal legislation this year despite organizing and political challenges.</div>
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<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/hannah-muhajarine">Hannah Muhajarine</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/authors/molly-mccracken">Molly McCracken</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 2, 2020</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p style="text-align: right;"><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/IMG_5717.JPG" alt="Green New Deal protest outside Manitoba legislature" title="Green New Deal - Jan-Feb 2020" width="4032" height="3024" /><sup><strong>Our Time at the September 27 Global Climate Strike (photo by Laura Cameron)</strong> </sup></p>
<p>Hope for action on climate is in the hands of mass movements. Through the student climate strikes (Climate Strike Canada) and Our Time (for a Green New Deal), young climate activists are mobilizing people of all ages and pushing governments to legislate the large-scale response needed to get to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.</p>
<p>A minority Liberal government creates potential for bolder climate action with support from the NDP and Greens, while conservative-led provinces are bound to push back no matter what the federal government proposes. It’s incumbent on us, in this political moment, to reject half-measures and push for the most expansive and inclusive just transition possible.</p>
<p>It’s time for us to get behind what people around the world are calling a Green New Deal.</p>
<p>As a framework for climate legislation, the Green New Deal arose in response to the environmental wreckage and growing inequality that are a direct product of fossil-fuelled capitalism. The only way to meet our climate obligations is to transform our economy—not just away from fossil fuels, but also to be more equitable and inclusive.</p>
<p>The GND therefore combines financial help for transitioning energy workers with secure universal pensions for all, good quality housing, high-wage job creation, expanded public services (health care, child care, elder care and transit), restored public and natural spaces, and a new internationalism based on solidarity and true development. Absolutely central to the <em>Canadian</em> Green New Deal movement is decolonization and Indigenous rights.</p>
<p>“We will not achieve climate justice without Indigenous human rights. UNDRIP and the right to free and informed prior consent are central to our struggle,” says Leah Gazan, newly elected NDP MP for Winnipeg Centre, and one of Our Time’s Green New Deal champions.</p>
<p>The social policy piece of the GND is crucial for two reasons. First, making a job guarantee and expansion of public services part of our demands is how we build support for the mass movement we need to make this happen. Second, an economy centered on care work, along with sustainable food production, housing, and transportation, is what a low-carbon economy looks like.</p>
<p>The challenge will be convincing enough Canadians that dismantling fossil fuel capitalism is in the interests of all. Those whose futures are being stolen by inaction understand this clearly, which explains why they are leading the way toward a Green New Deal.</p>
<p><strong>Diversity of tactics</strong></p>
<p>The national youth-led movement Our Time emerged out of 350.org’s 2019 conference, <em>Powershift: Young and Rising</em>, and the Winnipeg Hub began organizing around a Green New Deal last spring. If the focus was on national politics and the election, it’s because only the federal government has the heft to bring in the sweeping measures—sometimes compared to an all-out war mobilization—needed to respond meaningfully to the climate emergency.</p>
<p>Many young people were and still are hesitant to engage in electoral organizing due to an erosion of faith in our democratic processes. Some have overcome this to do lobbying work with Our Time, while others choose to focus on education and community capacity-building, and planning local “Fridays for the Future” climate strikes. But as one activist explained, “we need everyone doing everything all the time.” With its diversity of tactics, the climate movement is attracting hundreds of people new to organizing or new to the climate action movement.</p>
<p>“There is tremendous potential here,” says David Camfield, professor of sociology and labour studies at the University of Manitoba and activist member of Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition (MEJC), a supporter of the Manitoba Youth for Climate Action’s September 27 Global Climate Strike in Winnipeg. “The climate strike drew in tonnes of people. Some have organizing skills and others are new to social movements. The challenge is to leaders to facilitate everyone finding a role to play.”</p>
<p>As reported recently in the <em>Monitor</em> (September/October 2019), Our Time held town halls last spring with the Pact for a Green New Deal and hosted the Leap tour in June. Organizers collected almost 50,000 signatures asking CBC to host a fall election leaders’ debate on the climate crisis and held over 30 rallies outside CBC headquarters in Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and other communities. CBC rejected the idea, saying the climate would be covered in the general all-candidates debate. On October 10, during the final debate of the election, the greatest emergency of our time got 21 minutes.</p>
<p>As the election drew nearer, Our Time hubs started meeting with candidates face to face to determine whether we could count on them to support a Green New Deal if elected. In Winnipeg, Our Time approached and then chose to endorse Leah Gazan, a fierce Indigenous rights advocate running for the NDP who became one of the faces of the national Our Time campaign.</p>
<p>“I was really honoured to be supported by the Our Time campaign and I’ve been pushing Our Time at every opportunity,” she says. “It’s important to recognize youth…are on the frontline of the climate emergency. They’ve asked for very reasonable things—healthy land, healthy food, clean water and clean air…. But [the Liberal government is] really focused on building a pipeline. Canada has one of the worst climate plans of all G7 countries. We are the least likely to meet climate targets.”</p>
<p>Of the 35 candidates endorsed by Our Time, eight (including Gazan) were elected: Niki Ashton for Churchill–Keewatinook Aski (MB), Daniel Blaikie for Elmwood–Transcona (MB), Alexandre Boulerice for Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie (QC), Don Davies for Vancouver–Kingsway (BC), Peter Julian for New Westminster–Burnaby (BC), Matthew Green for Hamilton Centre (ON), and Jenny Kwan for Vancouver East (BC).</p>
<p>On election night, Gazan announced: "Our campaign was a testament to the power of a grassroots political movement. It was fuelled by people. It was funded by people. I think it shows the power of people and how that is going to lead to change in this country.”</p>
<p><strong>After the election</strong></p>
<p>The first few weeks are critical for influencing the course of the new government. On October 28, Our Time organizers from Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal occupied the House of Commons to call for immediate climate action and a Green New Deal. Twenty-seven Our Time activists were arrested for this action, receiving tickets for trespassing and a one-month ban from Parliament Hill. Several MPs, including NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, later tweeted their support.</p>
<p>In the following days, we reached out to all 338 MPs to deliver a mandate letter calling for a public pledge to make a Green New Deal a top priority when the House resumes. When the <em>Monitor</em> went to print, 17 had accepted the pledge. New Westminster–Burnaby MP Peter Julian filed a GND private member’s bill in the House of Commons in December.</p>
<p>Separate from these political moves, non-governmental members organizations of the Pact for a Green New Deal will release their plan in early 2020. Importantly, it will be based on the priorities of the 150 communities visited during last year’s GND tour, and emphasize the needs of Indigenous, low-income, newcomer, racialized, and young people. The last thing we need is for the language and spirit of the Green New Deal to be co-opted to appease calls from the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments for more pipelines and corporate handouts for the fossil fuel industry.</p>
<p>“Jason Kenny had a “I love Oil and Gas” jersey on at the Grey Cup. People don’t love oil and gas, they love working, working themselves out of poverty, having a roof over their head,” says Gazan. “We need to change the rhetoric from an ‘oil and gas’ issue to ‘I need to have a job’ issue."</p>
<p><strong>What’s next</strong></p>
<p>The latest UN assessment gives us a mere decade to hold global temperature increases to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to Camfield, the movement should prioritize finding a consensus on what climate justice means and how to achieve it in this urgent political context. “We need a strategy of escalation to exert power on the federal government for what’s needed,” he says.</p>
<p>Students continue to organize “Fridays for the Future” climate strikes. A strike in Winnipeg on November 29 included a round dance organized by Idle No More activists, as well as a clothing swap. A global follow-up to the millions-strong September 27 climate rally is planned for the spring.</p>
<p>Here in Winnipeg, Our Time and the CCPA-Manitoba recognize the need to build stronger relationships with the Indigenous community and beyond. We know that any struggle for a Green New Deal must take direction from those who are most dispossessed by fossil capitalism and most exposed to climate change. We do not wish to reproduce in our organizing spaces the undemocratic relationships of exploitation that have gotten us to this point. We need to unlearn the oppressive practices we frequently deploy, often unconsciously, even when our hearts are in the right place.</p>
<p>There is a lot of pressure to act <em>now</em>, but building relationships and trust takes time, as does learning new skills. With that in mind, several Our Time­–Winnipeg organizers recently participated in a direct action training session organized by the Indigenous youth–led Strawberry Heart Protectors and the Indigenous Peoples Power Project.</p>
<p>“We need the grassroots <em>and</em> electoral politics,” says Gazan. “Politicians say, ‘How are we going to get re-elected?’ It is by people, and we forget how powerful we are. People actually have identified common problems, common solutions. It’s how are we going to get there that sometimes differs. We can move it if we mobilize people and lift up people’s voices.”</p>
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<p><em>Hannah Muhajarine is an organizer with Our Time. Molly McCracken is Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives–Manitoba.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/children-and-youth">Children and youth</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/municipalities-and-urban-development">Municipalities and urban development</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/race-and-anti-racism">Race and anti-racism</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Fri, 20 Dec 2019 16:19:23 +0000Stuart Trew15066 at https://www.policyalternatives.caInequality's offspringhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/inequalitys-offspring
<div class="field field-name-field-secondary-title field-type-text field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even">Why Chile woke up</div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/edgardo-sepulveda">Edgardo Sepulveda</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 2, 2020</span></div>
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<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><p class="Body"><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/1920px-Marcha_Mas_Grande_De_Chile_2019_Plaza_Baquedano_Drone.jpg" alt="A million people protest in Chile in October 2019" title="Chile protest October 2019" width="1920" height="1440" /></p>
<p class="Body" style="text-align: right;"><sup><strong>Photo by Hugo Morales, Wikimedia Commons</strong></sup></p>
<p class="Body">On October 25, 2019, more than one million people marched in the streets of Santiago and other cities across Chile to demand structural change to reduce that country’s extreme inequality, to replace the dictatorship-era constitution, and to protest against the government’s excessive and indiscriminate use of force to quell mass social protests that started October 18.</p>
<p class="Body">After an impressive, decades-long period of economic growth, Chile is now Latin America’s highest-income country and has been a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) since 2010. The irony of Chile being asked to join this “rich nations club” is not lost on the demonstrators. The country’s economic model has funnelled most of these gains toward an oligarchic elite made up of hyper-wealthy families whose interconnected companies run much of the economy, and whose scions exert significant political influence in Chile.</p>
<p class="Body">Pension security, health care and education are largely provided on a for-profit basis. People feel exploited having to pay inflated prices for basic services and are demanding that the government change the free market policies first imposed during the 1973–1990 dictatorship. In addition to privatization, the dictatorship reduced taxes, opened up the country to free trade and broke up unions. Starting in the 1980s, that “neoliberal” playbook would be followed in the U.K., the United States and Canada under Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney and their successors.</p>
<p class="Body">But nothing has driven protestor anger more than the knowledge that these harsh economic policies have been perpetuated by all seven of Chile’s post-dictatorship governments, including five led by centre-left or centrist presidents. Referring to the modest fare increase in the Santiago subway that sparked the mass demonstrations, the saying goes: “It is not 30 pesos, it is 30 years.”</p>
<p class="Body">Not surprisingly, most Chileans have turned away from the electoral process. For Chileans who believe that the market and politics are rigged, taking to the street was the only remaining way to be heard and to demand respect and justice.</p>
<p class="Body"><strong>Inequality</strong></p>
<p class="Body">The inequalities and injustices against which the protestors in Chile are raging are multifaceted. They include inequality before the law—impunity—as corporate collusion and other types of white collar crimes, political corruption or sexual abuse in religious institutions appear not to be prosecuted, or with the perpetrators given relatively light sentences. They also include ethnic inequality, as Chilean Indigenous peoples continue to fight against centuries of mistreatment; and gender inequality, as women consolidate long-denied political and social gains. With respect to economic inequality, which I focus on here, it is possible to show how Chile’s oligarchic democracy has narrowed the scope of politics to matters that are not likely to challenge concentrated wealth.</p>
<p class="Body">We can measure income or wealth inequality by focusing on the share of national wealth captured by a certain percentage of the population, say, the top 1% or the top 10%. Or we can look at one of a series of indices that capture the shape of the distribution of income, the most popular of which is the Gini index. The Gini varies between 0 and 1, with 0 meaning no inequality (with all persons having the same income) and 1 meaning the most inequality (one person has all the income). Very high inequality has been shown to have a number of negative social, political and economic effects and is also considered by many to be morally repugnant.</p>
<p class="Body">Economic inequality has long been of concern in Chile, the enduring legacy of Spanish colonial economic institutions first imposed on the region’s Indigenous peoples. These institutions have produced a rigid social class system based on genealogy, income and race, wherein the many feel aggrieved by the privileges and impunities of the oligarchic few. To put today’s rage against inequality in historical and international context, Figure 1 tracks inequality over the last century, as measured by the share of income held by the top 1% in Chile and four other countries including Canada.</p>
<p class="Body" style="text-align: left;" align="center"><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Figure%201.jpg" alt="Top 1 percent of income - Colombia" title="Figure 1" width="1000" height="602" /></p>
<p class="Body">The graph shows that inequality in Chile and the other countries slowly declined over much of the 20<sup>th</sup> century, only to climb back up starting in the 1970s and ‘80s. The general decrease and then increase in inequality is due to a complex combination of historical events (the Great Depression, Second World War, the fall of the Soviet Union, etc.) and economic policies (the introduction and then decline of progressive taxation, rates of unionization, etc.) in each of these countries. Differences in economic policies explain much of the variations among countries around the general trend.</p>
<p class="Body">Chile’s inequality is higher and has been more variable than the other countries, reflecting its oligarchic legacy, smaller size and historic reliance on the export of a small number of raw materials. But Chile’s situation also reflects its recent political history.</p>
<p class="Body">Privatization, free trade, union repression and the dismantling of fledgling welfare institutions during the 17-year-long dictatorship resulted in an unprecedented jump in inequality in Chile that came earlier and was more severe than in the other countries, including the U.S., where policies have raised inequality to levels not seen in a century. Canada’s inequality also increased starting in the 1980s, but not as much as that of Chile or the U.S.</p>
<p class="Body">I include France and Sweden in this and other charts to counter the selection “bias" that would result if Chile was compared only to the U.S. and Canada. I also include them to demonstrate that high inequality is not inevitable: the socialist and social democratic governments in power in France and Sweden in the 1980s mostly continued with inclusive growth policies and did not adopt the neoliberal policies implemented by conservative governments in the U.K., U.S. and Canada, and as a result their inequality increased less and later.</p>
<p class="Body"><strong>Permanent austerity</strong></p>
<p class="Body">What are some of the symptoms of extreme income inequality and why have Chileans now woken up? One is the primacy of the market over social services. The oligarchic strategy is to reduce taxes and cut public funding of social services so that the services people need can be provided by the for-profit firms that they own.</p>
<p class="Body">Indeed, a key demand of the Chileans marching in the streets is increased public financing of social services, including those for retirement, health and education. Tax revenues in Chile hover at about 20% of GDP, which is well below the average of more than 35% in our other comparator countries. But this is a matter of policy choice, not national income. Those same countries—Canada, the U.S., U.K., Sweden and France—had comparable tax revenues well before they reached Chile’s current GDP in the 1990s.</p>
<p class="Body">Some progressive economists in Chile have called for an increase in revenues to fund social services in the order of 5% of GDP in the medium term, but even that would only get Chile one-third of the way to the average of the other OECD countries. Given the historical social debt built up after half a century of austerity, the longer-term objective may be closer to an increase in the order of 10% of GDP.</p>
<p class="Body">Low government revenues mean less ability to provide social services. Figure 2 shows that Chile funds pensions, health care, education and other social services at about half the rate of the other countries. This is done in Chile in order to provide economic space for the privatized provision of services, and thus Chile has parallel public and private systems in all sectors.</p>
<p class="Body">The publicly financed systems are designed to be universal and have relatively modest or no user fees or contribution charges. In practice, however, many middle-income and almost all high-income Chileans opt out of what they perceive to be lower quality public systems by subscribing into a retirement or health plan offered by a user-fee-based, for-profit private provider. In fact, many of the grievances of the marchers are directed at these economic institutions—the private retirement plan administrators (“AFPs”), the private health care plan providers (“ISAPRES”) or the for-profit universities.</p>
<p class="Body">As we see in Figure 2, public funding has barely budged since the end of the dictatorship. This is because none of the successive governments undertook the structural economic reforms to provide the free, quality and universal health care or education that Canadians, the French and Swedes take for granted. This means that, as in the U.S., Chileans pay about 50% of health expenditures privately. But the impact is worse in Chile because health care plans are paid for out of pocket by individual Chileans rather than by employers as in the U.S. By comparison, private health expenditures average only about 25% in Canada, France and Sweden. A comparable situation holds for education and retirement security.</p>
<p class="Body"><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Figure%202.png" alt="Public expenditures in Colombia" title="Figure 2" width="1015" height="610" /></p>
<p class="Body">Chile’s parallel public/private system perpetuates high market income inequality because it relegates lower-income households to generally lower-quality public systems that are less conducive to building (education) and maintaining (health and retirement) human capital. At the same time, the privatized systems allow for the creation of financial capital, further concentrating oligarchic wealth.</p>
<p class="Body">Chileans’ struggle for comparable public services to those of other industrialized countries highlights the need for Canadians to protect what prior generations in Canada have achieved. The reduction of 3% of GDP (all levels of government) in social expenditures since the 1990s shows the precariousness of past gains. It is why university fees are so high in Canada, leaving students with huge debts; why hallway medicine exists; and why social assistance rates are even more inadequate than before.</p>
<p class="Body"><strong>Redistribution</strong></p>
<p class="Body">Democratically elected governments in Chile have also failed to reduce market income inequality. They could have done so by redistributing income, for example by taxing higher-income households and providing cash transfers to targeted groups. Canada’s federal old age security (OAS) and guaranteed income supplement (GIS) programs, the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), and provincial social assistance (welfare) are prime examples of such transfer programs.</p>
<p class="Body">Redistribution is measured by the change in inequality after taking into account how market income is modified by such taxes and transfers into "disposable" income. Figure 3 shows how much inequality was reduced in Chile and our other comparator countries since 1990 as measured by the change in the Gini index. We can clearly see how little Chile has redistributed income since the end of the dictatorship. Both Canada and the U.S. have about three times the level of redistribution, while Sweden and France are even higher.</p>
<p class="Body"><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Figure%203.jpg" alt="Redistribution in Chile and other countries" title="Figure 3" width="1003" height="602" /></p>
<p class="Body">And so while Chile, the U.S. and France start off with high market income inequality (Gini indices of about 0.50) and Canada and Sweden with lower Gini indices of about 0.44 for the latest numbers, redistribution reduces market inequality to around 0.30 for Canada, France and Sweden, 0.40 for the U.S, but barely budges it in Chile to 0.46. Similar to the 1% measure, this Gini number confirms Chile’s rank as one of the most economically unequal countries in the world.</p>
<p class="Body">So, what does it mean to be in the bottom economic half of the population in Chile? It means your employment income is low because the minimum wage has been kept low by market-friendly legislation and the labour market is marked by precarious and informal jobs at the bottom end. Unemployment insurance is meagre and only available to designated contract workers, not those labouring in the large informal sector. There is virtually no social assistance if you become destitute. Private health insurance premiums are unaffordable, so you make do with the underresourced public health system.</p>
<p class="Body">There is no public pension in Chile like the Canada Pension Plan; instead, it is mandatory to pay into for-profit retirement funds (if you are lucky enough to be a designated contract or permanent worker). Day-to-day you pay higher prices for many goods and services because many sectors, including banking, foodstuffs, medicines, etc., are controlled by a small number of oligopolistic firms often owned by the oligarchic few.</p>
<p class="Body">Low incomes and high expenditures lead many Chileans into debt. Indeed, the median debt service ratio—the amount of disposable income devoted to service all debt—for a Chilean household with debt at the bottom half of the income distribution increased from 20% to more than 27% in the decade to 2017. That is not mostly mortgage debt or asset investment but student and retail and other consumption-oriented credit card debt. Many households are living paycheque to paycheque and have to borrow to make it to month’s end.</p>
<p class="Body">Of course, this is not a uniquely Chilean phenomenon. Many lower-income households in Canada and the other countries, including the working poor and those on social assistance, are in a similar situation and have to borrow and resort to food banks. But at least they can rely on some high quality, publicly funded social services like health care.</p>
<p class="Body">Redistribution is fundamentally a political choice and social contract with real societal consequences. In principle, in a democracy people decide on the level of redistribution and the provision of public services by electing a government that will carry out that program. But extreme inequality appears to short-circuit that process. An oligarchic democracy seems to limit the scope of the politically possible, regardless of citizens’ wishes.</p>
<p class="Body"><strong>Disenchanted citizens</strong></p>
<p class="Body">Can democracy counteract oligarchic power? Research suggests that voter engagement, a critical democratic input, is suppressed by increasing inequality and that this effect is particularly pronounced in post-dictatorship countries where democratic governance does not deliver on citizen expectations. This certainly describes Chile, where political parties vying to form government have competed on narrow economic platforms that have delivered economic growth without economic justice.</p>
<p class="Body">To take into account differences in voter registration, researchers often use voting age population (VAP) turnout as an indicator to measure voter turnout. Figure 4 presents VAP turnout for Chile and the comparator countries from 1964 on, for presidential elections in Chile, the U.S. and France and parliamentary elections in Canada and Sweden.</p>
<p class="Body"><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Figure%204.png" alt="Voter turnout in Chile and other countries" title="Figure 4" width="1002" height="606" /></p>
<p class="Body">We can see that VAP turnout in Chile was low compared to the other countries in the 1960s and peaked in the first post-dictatorship election of 1989 at 86%. After that there was a precipitous decline in Chile, to well below 50% in both the most recent presidential elections, including the one in 2017 that elected the current president. In contrast, VAP turnout in the other countries has been steady or declined moderately over the last 55 years.</p>
<p class="Body">The euphoria of being able to cast a ballot for the first time in a generation in 1989 soon turned to disappointment and ultimately outright disgust with politicians and the electoral process after a series of governments offered similarly inadequate economic visions. Lack of citizen engagement is a hallmark of oligarchic democracy: why bother playing if you know you’ll lose? The electoral process ends up driven by those who can commit the most resources to maintaining the status quo.</p>
<p class="Body">Is reform possible? Since October 25, a parade of political leaders from the left and sometimes from the right have apologized for not having “heard the people” and not doing enough to reform or change the neoliberal economic model. But many in the centre and centre-left governments in Chile seemed to actually believe in what they were doing, much like the “Third Way” governments of Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and Jean Chrétien/Paul Martin. All adopted the mantra of maintaining the “responsible” neoliberal policies established by earlier conservative regimes.</p>
<p class="Body">The political situation in Chile has been in is a dangerous negative feedback loop for some time. The political spectrum is narrowed to promote and defend concentrated wealth, making government policy less responsive to citizen demands. This leads to citizen disenchantment and exit from the political process, which in turn results in decreased political competition against concentrated wealth.</p>
<p class="Body"><strong>What’s next?</strong></p>
<p class="Body">At the time of writing, Chileans were still massively protesting in the streets. The current conservative president, one of the wealthiest men in the country, has offered only modest one-off initiatives, but no medium or long-term plans to reduce inequality and improve quality of life. Opposition demands for serious reform, including a multi-year plan for Chile to finance quality universal social services, appear to have fallen on the deaf ears of a government committed to the neoliberal model.</p>
<p class="Body">Along with this economic incrementalism there has been positive news on the constitutional front: a congressional agreement to establish the framework to review and replace the dictatorship-era constitution that constrained certain economic policies. The process was top-down and driven by a highly discredited congress, and the agreement was not unanimous. But it now appears that Chileans will decide on whether they want to start this constitutional process in a historic plebiscite in April.</p>
<p class="Body">While the mass peaceful protests have continued, so has the destruction of property and looting, and the pitched battles with the police. As in other countries, there is often a “first line” of protesters that engage the security forces, often violently, using the mass peaceful protests as cover. In this volatile context, public attention has focused on strategies to achieve social peace, while ensuring justice for those killed and injured by the police and the military.</p>
<p class="Body">Human rights organizations have accused the security forces of excessive and indiscriminate use of force. Five confirmed deaths from live ammunition or beatings by the security forces and two suspicious deaths in custody are being investigated. Thousands of protestors and security personnel have been injured, including hundreds of demonstrators with serious eye injuries or loss of vision from the use of anti-riot shotgun pellets by the police.</p>
<p class="Body">The police continue to hold more than 1,000 of the more than 20,000 that have been detained. Human rights entities have documented ill treatment, sexual abuse and torture of some detainees. The national police, whose image had begun to be rehabilitated after their role in the dictatorship, will need another generation of real reform, including stronger political oversight, to be trusted by most of the population.</p>
<p class="Body">Chile’s path is uncertain. Mass mobilization has not yet resulted in the structural reforms that would provide Chileans with what most advanced democracies have had in place for generations: policies to substantially moderate income inequality and to finance high quality, universal social services. There is no administrative or economic constraint to implementing these policies in Chile. But that has never really been the issue. Rather, until October 25, the political space was so narrow that structural reforms did not seem feasible.</p>
<p class="Body">Chileans generally support the mass peaceful demonstrations because they have opened up political space that can result in change. They abhor the vandalism and looting and are tiring of the street barricades and battles with the police. Most also acknowledge that the perpetrators are often dispossessed, lower-income youth that have borne the brunt of Chile’s class injustices and permanent austerity—inequality’s offspring. Thirty years since the end of the dictatorship, it is well past time for Chile to move beyond minor tinkering at the margins and begin addressing the structural issues bringing Chileans into the streets.</p>
<p class="Body">Chile’s struggle against inequality matters because it is not theirs alone. Starting with the 2011 Occupy movement, this generation has seen protests against inequality with limited policy impact. But as income and wealth gaps continue to widen, the policy debate in the U.S and elsewhere about the dangers of inequality is now the most robust in a century. Inequality in Canada is less pronounced, but we should also be very concerned that the top 1% of Canadians hold 17% of total wealth and that many policies seem designed to favour them.</p>
<p class="Body">We see how political and economic ideas cross national boundaries. Does the call for economic justice in Chile signal the break in the 40-year increase in inequality there and elsewhere? Canadians can and should feel emboldened to insist on a turnaround in this country, too. Policies to reduce income and wealth inequality, and to counteract the outsized influence of the few over the many, are the least we should expect from government today.</p>
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<p class="Body" style="margin-top: 5.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; line-height: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US"><em>Edgardo Sepulveda is an independent consulting economist that writes about inequality, electricity and other economic policy issues at the <a href="http://www.progressive-economics.ca/" target="_blank">Progressive Economics Forum</a>, where a version of this article first ran on October 31.</em><br /></span></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/education">Education</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/other">Other</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/seniors-issues-and-pensions">Seniors issues and pensions</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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</div>
Fri, 20 Dec 2019 16:13:27 +0000Stuart Trew15065 at https://www.policyalternatives.caWhen will Canadians have the right to repair?https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/when-will-canadians-have-right-repair
<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/sabrina-wilkinson">Sabrina Wilkinson</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 2, 2020</span></div>
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<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-12-20%2010.44.42.png" alt="Illustration of cellphone fixing itself" title="Right to Repair Spot 1" width="1220" height="1104" /></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><sup><strong>Illustration by Maura Doyle</strong></sup></p>
<p>In May 2019, a private member’s bill that would have given Ontario consumers the right to repair their electronic devices was <a href="https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/05/03/michael-coteau-right-repair-bill/" target="_blank">voted down</a> in the provincial legislature. The measure aimed to give consumers the access and resources needed to fix and modify their gadgets, appliances and vehicles, ranging from cellphones to tractors. The Liberal MPP behind the initiative, Michael Coteau, <a href="https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/02/18/ontario-mpp-right-repair/" target="_blank">emphasized</a> that the bill would save consumers money and reduce environmental harm.</p>
<p>Despite this setback, right-to-repair efforts have gained momentum in Canada and around the world. In the United States, two Democratic presidential <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8xzqmp/bernie-sanders-calls-for-a-national-right-to-repair-law-for-farmers">candidates</a>, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, have called for federal legislation to give farmers the right to fix their tractors and equipment. As of 2021, manufacturers in the <a href="https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2019/10/the-right-to-repair-busted-appliances-is-getting-a-big-boost-in-europe/">European Union</a> will need to make spare parts available to professional repairers, though unfortunately not consumers, for up to 10 years.</p>
<p>In particular, our reliance on expensive digital devices in our social and professional lives has led consumers and <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/right-to-repair-act-introduced-into-112th-congress-with-bipartisan-support-119609714.html" target="_blank">politicians of all stripes</a> to hold up the right to repair as a necessary principle in a connected world. Advocacy organizations, such as <a href="https://act.openmedia.org/your-right-to-repair">OpenMedia</a> in Canada, have helped shine a light on this dialogue.</p>
<p>Indeed, even with strong <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/john-deere-farmers-right-to-repair/" target="_blank">opposition</a> from manufacturers like Apple and John Deere, both of which profit from specialist repair schemes and inaccessible code in their computers and tractors, the right to repair movement has burgeoned in recent years. Among other <a href="https://gizmodo.com/right-to-repair-is-less-complicated-and-more-important-1834672055">arguments</a>, industry players suggest that intellectual property rights and security and safety concerns should limit consumers’ rights to fix their devices.</p>
<p>In Canada, some provincial politicians are taking the debate seriously. And research reveals that Canadians are widely <a href="https://openmedia.org/en/openmedia-community-funded-poll-reveals-75-canadians-support-right-repair">supportive</a> of the right to repair. In spite of manufacturers looking to stifle these proposals, there are real initiatives to put the issue on the new federal government’s agenda, moves that would foster sustainability and empower Canadian consumers.</p>
<p><strong>Provincial action</strong></p>
<p>In part inspired by activism in the United States, Coteau’s Bill 72, which <a href="https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/02/18/ontario-mpp-right-repair/">entered</a> the Ontario legislature in February 2019, sought to require “brand holders” such as cellphone manufacturers to provide consumers, at their request, with “the most recent version of the documents, replacement parts, software and other tools” needed to fix their electronic products. The legislation allowed companies to charge customers for these resources, but at limited rates.</p>
<p>Although the Ford government voted down his initiative in May, Coteau says the right to repair isn’t a dead issue in Ontario or other parts of Canada. “The whole process of companies monetizing the process of repair and controlling the product exclusively is something that needs to be addressed, so I don’t think this issue is going away,” he tells me.</p>
<p>In Quebec, <a href="http://m.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-197-42-1.html">Bill 197</a>, a private member’s bill sponsored by independent MPP Guy Ouellette in April 2019, similarly aims to bolster consumers’ right to repair while deterring planned obsolescence, where producers design goods to quickly break down or become outdated. The scheme would have manufacturers affix a label to household appliances that lists the average time before an item needs repair.</p>
<p>Similar to the Ontario bill, Quebec’s legislation would require companies to offer replacement parts and other resources “at a reasonable price and on reasonable conditions.” It would also ensure that the warranties of goods sold in Quebec remain intact even if items are repaired by non-specialists. If successful, the initiative could serve as a guide to other provinces and territories.</p>
<p>Importantly, new right-to-repair rules in Quebec could give an important boost to the idea of a national law. While the NDP and <a href="https://www.greenparty.ca/en/platform">Green</a>s did promise national legislation during the recent election campaign, the topic got little airtime and was not championed by the Liberals, Conservatives or Bloc Québécois.</p>
<p><strong>Industry strategies </strong></p>
<p>At the same time, opposition to right-to-repair efforts in Canada and around the world is active and well-resourced. In the U.S. and in Europe, “any time a bill gets proposed, companies like Apple, Samsung, John Deere, Microsoft will be knocking at the doors of the legislatures and lobbying against these bills because it affects their bottom line,” says Rodrigo Samayoa, digital campaigner at OpenMedia.</p>
<p>Samayoa adds that in Canada, where advocacy in support of the right to repair is not as prevalent, there is less lobbying. Yet, as Coteau tells me, Canadian politicians are petitioned on this issue too. “During the [provincial] process there were many people that appeared out of nowhere to defend the big companies,” he says.</p>
<p>And these lobbyists have undeniable influence. In 2018, the California Farm Bureau undermined its constituency by <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kz5qgw/california-farm-bureau-john-deere-tractor-hacking-right-to-repair">signing off</a> on a deal crafted by the Equipment Dealers Association, which represents John Deere and other manufacturers. Alongside other commitments, the document states that farmers won’t reprogram “electronic control units or engine control units [and download or access] the source code of any proprietary embedded software or code.”</p>
<p>With the <a href="https://www.digitalistmag.com/iot/2017/12/07/how-will-digitization-effectively-transform-agriculture-05620552">digitization</a> of the agricultural sector, such measures effectively <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/john-deere-farmers-right-to-repair/">bar</a> farmers, many of whom have the necessary know-how, from repairing their equipment independently. </p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-12-20%2010.46.17.png" alt="Illustration of tractor with face " title="Right to Repair Spot 2" width="1444" height="1107" /></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><sup><strong>Illustration by Maura Doyle</strong></sup></p>
<p>Outside policy development settings, manufacturers use other means to limit whether and how consumers can tinker with their tools. “[T]hey use a combination of the technology…with warranty and contractual arrangements,” says Leanne Wiseman, associate professor in law at Griffith University. If a vehicle is in need of repairs, it’s often that the owner’s “local mechanic can’t access the technology in the car to find out what’s wrong in the first place.” That driver might also have their warranty invalidated for seeking support from an unauthorized source.</p>
<p>Under public pressure, Apple recently introduced a <a href="https://www.techspot.com/news/81668-apple-expand-access-genuine-iphone-parts-independent-repair.html">program</a> that grants select repair businesses free access to company resources like tools and training. But to no one’s surprise, the initiative has a few catches. For one, these measures aren’t made available to consumers. Another limitation is that the program only offers resources for fixes not covered by warranties.</p>
<p><strong>Power to the people </strong></p>
<p>Like in the United States, some of the hardest hit by the lack of right-to-repair legislation in Canada may be the country’s farmers and small manufacturers of farming equipment.</p>
<p>“As more closed technology systems are introduced into equipment, many of the innovative farm implements made by [smaller manufacturers] will no longer work on large equipment,” Scott Smith, an aircraft electronics technician living in rural Saskatchewan, wrote in a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/opinion-farmers-right-to-repair-1.5185218">CBC op-ed</a> last June. “All of this has a direct impact on rural Canadians and diminishes our ability to participate in the economy.”</p>
<p>The right to repair gives consumers, workers and citizens agency where their limited power is so often undermined. “We do not want a world around us where our access to the technology we build and incorporate into our lives is limited,” Coteau tells me. Rather, people should readily be given the rights, tools and resources they need to safely and securely fix their things or hire someone of their choosing to do it for them.</p>
<p>Of course, allowing consumers to readily repair their tools and devices has obvious environmental benefits, too. Canada is the greatest <a href="https://www.queensu.ca/vpr/canadas-waste-flow">generator</a> of waste in the world, producing over 35 million tonnes per year. If there were easy and effective ways to repair our gadgets, who knows how much of this waste we might divert from landfills.</p>
<p>The December 5 Speech from the Throne outlined the new minority government’s priorities. While climate change and renewable power featured prominently, there was no mention of the right to repair. To be fair, many Canadians still aren’t well-versed in the debate or the ideas behind the policy. “There’s a big education piece that needs to happen for people to realize this is a big issue,” says Samayoa.</p>
<p>But a growing interest in the issue internationally and at the provincial level, alongside vocal campaigns for the right to repair, may eventually put pressure on the Trudeau government to act, possibly in co-ordination with the Greens and NDP. As all Canadians—not just farmers—become increasingly reliant on expensive digital tools, a right to repair makes economic and environmental sense.</p>
<hr />
<p><em>Sabrina Wilkinson is a SSHRC-funded doctoral researcher at Goldsmiths, University of London where she studies the politics of internet policy in Canada.</em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/agriculture">Agriculture</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
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Fri, 20 Dec 2019 15:49:40 +0000Stuart Trew15064 at https://www.policyalternatives.caThe Monitor, Jan/Feb 2020https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/monitor-janfeb-2020
<div class="field field-name-field-secondary-title field-type-text field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even">New government, same climate emergency</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 2, 2020</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2020/01/CCPA%20Monitor%20Jan%20Feb%202020%20WEB.pdf" class="download button">Download</a><div class='meta'><span class="filesize">8.99 MB</span></div> </div>
<p>The <em>Monitor</em> starts off 2020—the CCPA's 40th anniversary year—with a direct attack on the Trudeau government's contradictory climate plans and the close connections between public officials and the fossil fuel sector. Will minority status and a rising Green New Deal movement change the government's course, or will it be just more business as usual?</p>
<p>Also in this issue, we look at how changes to the "New NAFTA" negotiated by House Democrats will affect Canadians, what's behind the widening gap between CEO and average incomes in Canada, why Chilean citizens woke up to the crisis of inequality, and much more.</p>
<p>Finally, I'm very excited to announce that twice a year, starting with this issue, the <em>Monitor</em> will include a full issue of <em>Our Schools / Our Selves</em>, the voice of progressive education in Canada. The CCPA has been publishing OS/OS, under the editorship of Erika Shaker, since 2000. The journal is now free for all Monitor readers to enjoy.</p>
<p> Here's a sample of what you'll find in the issue.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/it-still-business-usual">Is it still business as usual in Ottawa?</a> <strong>Martin Lukacs</strong> wonders how the "Trudeau Formula" will hold up in a minority setting.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/future-our-hands%E2%80%94not-theirs">The future of climate policy is in our hands</a>. <strong>Hannah Muhajarine</strong> and <strong>Molly McCraken</strong> on the next steps of the youth-led Green New Deal movement in Canada.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/when-will-canadians-have-right-repair">When will Canadians have the right to repair their digital products?</a> <strong>Sabrina Wilkinson</strong> scans the political momentum for legislative change.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/inequalitys-offspring">Inequality's offspring</a>: <strong>Edgardo Sepulveda</strong>'s graphical explanation for why Chile woke up.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/ccpa-40">The CCPA @ 40</a>: Monitor editor <strong>Stuart Trew</strong> on the centre's importance in an era of waning and mutating neoliberalism.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/stalemate-ecuador">Stalemate in Ecuador</a>: <strong>Asad Ismi</strong> reports on the mass protests that forced the Moreno government to back off austerity, for now.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/cheechako-sourdough">From Cheechako to Sourdough</a>: <strong>Paige Galette</strong>'s reflections on nortern living and surviving while being Black.</li>
</ul>
<p>We can't do this without you! Please consider <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/give" target="_blank">donating to the CCPA</a> and ask to get the <em>Monitor</em> delivered to your home or workplace.</p>
<p>Thanks to <a href="https://www.remgeo.com/" target="_blank">Remie Geoffroi</a> for this issue's cover illustration.</p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/agriculture">Agriculture</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/education">Education</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/federal-election">Federal election</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/gender-equality">Gender equality</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/law-and-legal-issues">Law and legal issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/municipalities-and-urban-development">Municipalities and urban development</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/race-and-anti-racism">Race and anti-racism</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Fri, 20 Dec 2019 15:35:44 +0000Stuart Trew15062 at https://www.policyalternatives.caIs it still business as usual?https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/it-still-business-usual
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<div class="field-item even">The “Trudeau Formula” legitimized status-quo policies behind a mask of progressivism. Growing public resentment for politics-as-usual and a new minority government setting may complicate that plan.</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/martin-lukacs">Martin Lukacs</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 2, 2020</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-12-20%2010.28.06.png" alt="Cartoon of Justin Trudeau wearing shades" title="Justin Trudeau Monitor Cover JanFeb 2020" width="903" height="883" style="vertical-align: middle;" /></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><strong><sup>Illustration by Remie Geoffroi</sup></strong></p>
<p>In early November, hundreds of Liberal Party members descended on Mont-Tremblant to enjoy the latest instalment of the annual Banff Forum. In Parliament the party might have been knocked down to minority government status just a few weeks before, but the mood at Quebec’s favourite ski resort was cheerful and confident.</p>
<p>After all, Liberal MPs in the strongholds of Ontario and Quebec had almost universally retained their seats, many with increased vote margins. And Conservative leaders across the country, after huffing and puffing for a few weeks, were already in retreat from their principal election battleground of the carbon tax. Even Jason Kenney’s United Conservative government in Alberta had quietly brought in a tax on industrial polluters and other premiers were adopting a more conciliatory tone. For many people at the summit, the situation looked positive.</p>
<p>Though the Liberal contingent is usually high at the Banff Forum, most of the attendees in Mont-Tremblant were not formal representatives of the party. Known as “Banffers,” they were, however, drawn from its main demographic base: lawyers, heads of non-governmental organizations, venture capitalists, bankers, policy and public relations types, tech entrepreneurs, and cultural industry executives. “Old enough to have something substantive to contribute,” the forum’s website enthused about the participants, “yet young enough to be open to new people and new ideas.”</p>
<p>The three-day confab is officially billed as a public policy forum, but it’s not exactly that. It is by invitation only. Conversations take place under strict confidentiality rules. And alongside the obligatory panels and fireside chats there are the equally important organized hikes in the woods, soaks in hot outdoor pools, and late night parties—clubby opportunities to forge social cohesion. “Dazzling amount of good ideas circulating here at Mont-Tremblant,” read a tweet from Jesse McCormick, until recently the director of policy and Indigenous relations for former environment minister Catherine McKenna. “A-Type personalities abound!”</p>
<p>The entry fee clocked in around $1,500, or slightly less if you were under the age of 40. The rest of the cost of organizing the forum was picked up by corporate sponsors, including some of the country’s heftiest corporations: Suncor, Telus, CN Rail, TD Bank, Coca Cola, Enbridge, Bell, Power Corporation of Canada, etc. This year, organizers said they made a concerted effort to recruit more political variety, which meant in practice many more Conservatives and a handful of New Democrats.</p>
<p>An all-female panel of former provincial premiers—Kathleen Wynne, Kathy Dunderdale and Rachel Notley—was well received by the audience. But so was another panel on Quebec’s Bill 21 that lacked even a single critic of the legislation, which prohibits teachers, police officers and other public servants from wearing religious symbols at work. An event on the future of Canadian energy, featuring three proponents of the Trans Mountain pipeline, ended on a buoyant note and slideshow photograph of shovels breaking ground, heralding the completion of that tar sands expansion project.</p>
<p>All in all, the Banff Forum offered a glimpse of liberal strategy today. The picture we get is one of class solidarity between the rich and professionals, for whom politics is a glamorous and privileged festival of ideas, accentuated by credentials and elite diversity. This kind of politics is naturally more comfortable tilting right than left and can evince only shallow concern with the profound environmental, racial and economic crises bedevilling the age. As a ruling strategy it proved remarkably successful for the first Trudeau government. Whether the prime minister can pull it off in a minority situation is another question.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>The days and months after the last election were shakier for Justin Trudeau than for others in his party. In the wake of media coverage of his repeated blackface episodes, international news outlets no longer run columns about Canada’s “lurch to the left,” as the <em>Atlantic</em> put it in a 2015 article. They are no longer describing his thematic socks as a long-sought-after ingredient to world peace. And interest has finally faded in what seemed, from the coverage at least, like a new national pastime—sightings in nature of a shirtless Trudeau.</p>
<p>In fact, in the month after the election, Prime Minister Trudeau wasn’t seen out much at all. At the swearing-in ceremony in 2015, he and his cabinet had bounded up the pathway to Rideau Hall together. This time, Trudeau slipped in quietly through a side entrance. And whereas the Liberals spent the first few months after their election in 2015 basking in and playing up Trudeau’s new status as a global progressive icon, this fall they have been clearer where their real priorities lie.</p>
<p>In public announcements and mandate letters issued since October, the government has committed to building the Trans Mountain pipeline; moving ahead with tax cuts that will primarily benefit higher-income families; issuing a memo whitewashing Canadian complicity in the Saudi war on Yemen; and endorsing a right-wing military coup in Bolivia. The shift from campaigning on the left to governing on the right was fast enough to give any good faith observer whiplash.</p>
<p>Yet what I’ve named the “Trudeau Formula” has powerful durability and is still very much in play. This formula—in many ways a Liberal Party heritage but one that Trudeau is especially good at practising—revolves around making a close study of the values and aspirations of the country’s progressive majority and co-opting its protests, language and demands. Selective concessions to the left may follow. But the progressive aspirations behind these policies are frequently hollowed out as part of a quiet compact with the corporate elite, whose policy priorities are channelled, repackaged and advertised as a captivating option. Demobilizing and integrating progressive challenges in this way, the government manufactures consent for the prevailing social order and captures the voting blocs necessary to win or remain in office.</p>
<p>The clearest expression of this formula was articulated by Trudeau himself, in a speech to the ritzy Canadian Club of Toronto in May 2015. It was not long after the Liberals had announced their marquee policy of a new tax on the top one per cent, to which his audience that day universally belonged. The establishment media had howled about Trudeau’s “redistributionist dogma.” But Trudeau’s team had a savvier message for the country’s financial barons.</p>
<p>The status quo was not sustainable, said Trudeau in his speech, which ran through statistics many leftists would be comfortable citing: growing inequality, stagnating wages, soaring personal and family debt, and an increasingly insecure social safety net. A “sense of fairness” had evaporated in Canadian society, said Trudeau. If a government could not put forward an agenda “aimed squarely at restoring that sense of fairness,” he warned, “Canadians will eventually entertain more radical options.”</p>
<p>It was a polite way of saying: it’s me or the pitchforks. If Bay Street could lend support to a mild tax hike, Trudeau promised, he could harness the rhetoric of the Occupy movement and stifle any backlash against the elite, restoring confidence to the economic system. (Indeed, the wealth of the top one per cent would grow, rather than diminish, over the next four years of his government.) In short, Trudeau’s pitch was that only he would be able to save neoliberalism from growing calls to replace it.</p>
<p>To be fair, the Canadian Club would have heard this message before and known they could count on its power. The legacy of governments going back decades is not as a force for social progress and economic justice, but as a potent obstacle to the radical change that so many are hungry for, and which a livable climate now literally depends on. I would argue that everything Canadians have seen from the Trudeau government so far has amounted to a politics of changeless change—a spectacle of splashy announcements and bold initiatives that appear to disrupt business-as-usual, but in fact mostly shore up prevailing disparities of wealth and power.</p>
<p>We have witnessed the public drama of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples while the policies of land and resource dispossession from prior governments continue apace. The Liberal government has enthused about its infrastructure agenda, but in secret it studied the privatization of $200 billion worth of public assets including airports, highways, water systems and the postal service, while perpetuating the stealth privatization of transit projects through public-private partnerships. The Trudeau government has postured Canada as a human rights champion abroad while increasing military spending by 70% over 10 years and continuing to ship military vehicles and weapons to the Saudi dictatorship fighting a war in Yemen.</p>
<p>Not just in Canada, but around the world we have seen the emergence of an airbrushed, focus-grouped avatar liberalism—“yuppie simulacrum of populist breakthrough,” in Perry Anderson’s words—to face the challenge from a democratic-socialist left and an ugly resurgent right. This model of politics was ground-tested by the Obama administration and is today exemplified in the “extreme centrism” of Trudeau, French President Emanuel Macron, and U.S. Democratic politicians like Pete Buttegieg and Beto O’Rourke. What these men all share in common is an effort to forge a new consensus that can salvage the failed yet still pervasive neoliberal governing logic that counts extreme inequality and climate breakdown as its most obvious consequences.</p>
<p>Alongside a continued support for privatization, deregulation, corporate tax cuts, and a slow withdrawal of the welfare state, these political figures have tinkered around the edges to give their conservative economic policies a patina of emancipatory progressivism. Trudeau offered reforms, like a means-tested Canada Child Benefit, more representation of women and racialized people in cabinet and the civil service, and incremental measures on climate change. But none of Trudeau’s actions have so far threatened the authority of corporate interests to set the political agenda.</p>
<p>In rare moments, Trudeau has been candid about his role as a diligent manager of the status quo. Describing his government’s early achievements in a late-2016 interview with the <em>Guardian</em> (U.K.), the prime minister said: “We’re actually able to approve pipelines at a time when everyone wants protection of the environment. We’re being able to show that we get people’s fears and there are constructive ways of allaying them—and not just ways to lash out and give a big kick to the system.”</p>
<p>While the brand of the <em>messenger</em> of this formula has evidently been damaged since then, the formula itself lives on.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>When the prime minister participated in the giant climate strike march in Montreal last September, the satirical news outlet <em>The Beaverton</em> pointedly observed, “Trudeau comes to Montreal climate strike to protest self.” The truth of this mock headline wasn’t lost on the young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who reportedly told Trudeau in a private in-person meeting that afternoon that he wasn’t doing enough to combat the climate crisis. No doubt to the relief of the Liberal strategist Gerald Butts, whose idea it was to participate in the climate march, Thunberg would later generalize her point in remarks to the media, saying <em>no</em> politician was doing enough anywhere.</p>
<p>Still, according to formula, the potential backlash was worth the opportunity to burnish the government’s environmental bona fides. More importantly, it was very much in keeping with a broader strategy the minority Liberal government can be expected to continue to deploy on environmental and energy policy.</p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-12-20%2013.24.53.png" alt="Trudeau, Singh and May wave at Pride parade" title="Trudeau Singh and May at Pride" width="1446" height="964" /><sup><strong>Photo from PM Trudeau's Flickr feed.</strong></sup></p>
<p>Days after the election, Finance Minister Bill Morneau tested out a new line to justify the government’s purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion dollars. “We purchased it for a reason,” he said. “We now see how it can help us accelerate our clean energy transition by putting any revenues that we get from it into a transition to clean energy.” Morneau promised profits of up to $500 million a year would be spent on cleaner energy sources and technologies to pull carbon out of the atmosphere. This vaguely progressive sounding policy is in fact the logic of an addict, akin to suggesting the need to chain-smoke several packs of cigarettes to build up the courage to break a nicotine habit.</p>
<p>Canadians came to expect such mystification from former environment minister Catherine McKenna, whose office was lobbied almost as much as the natural resources department in the government’s first three years. During the 2019 election campaign, McKenna introduced the promise to get to net-zero emissions by 2050, but told the media there was no plan yet for how to do it. Just trust us, she said, and we’ll figure it out when we’re back in office.</p>
<p>That task has now fallen to new Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, a former cleantech executive who has indicated that the government will invest far more significantly in technological silver bullets like hydrogen energy. When referring to oil and gas developments, he has emphasized not overall emissions but reducing emissions per barrel. “We have a significant resource,” he told the <em>Toronto Star</em>. “The issue isn’t the resource, the issue is the pollution, and our focus is on reducing pollution.” Yet across the industry there has yet been no decrease in emissions per barrel, as they shift to even more high-intensity-emitting in-situ tar sands projects.</p>
<p>Even the government’s new pledge to reach Canada’s 2030 targets <em>and</em> get to net-zero emissions by 2050 sounds like having your cake and eating it too. “Net zero” is a shifty concept long pushed by the global fossil fuel industry to allow them to keep extracting, with the dim hope of technologies emerging to suck carbon out of the atmosphere (or to spray the stratosphere with potentially dangerous solar reflecting chemicals). The throne speech in early December offered an airy and vaguely progressive message that “Canada’s children and grandchildren will judge this generation [by its action on] the defining challenge of the time.” But it also indicated that the government would “work just as hard to get Canadian resources to new markets.”</p>
<p>Little of this approach has deviated from the pitch that Trudeau made to oil executives, before becoming prime minister, in a speech to the Calgary Petroleum Club in 2013. Trudeau made it clear then that there was little separating him from Stephen Harper when it came to support for the massive expansion of the tar sands. Where they differed was on tactics, with Trudeau pledging to be a deft diplomat for their interests, building alliances where Harper had burnt them, co-opting his opposition instead of demonizing it. Taking the direction of the powerful Business Council of Canada, Trudeau would brandish technological solutions and the carbon tax—universally supported by the leading corporative executives of all the high-emitting industries as early as 2008, but stymied politically by Harper—and use them as a green fig leaf for a business-as-usual agenda.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the tar sands are now Canada’s fastest-growing source of emissions, on track to eat up more than half of Canada’s carbon emissions budget within the next decade. In the latest UN report, Canada was one of 14 G20 countries that are on pace to miss their emissions reduction targets for 2030. In February, Environment Minister Wilkinson will decide whether to give final approval to Teck Resources’ Frontier Mine, which, at twice the size of Vancouver, would be the biggest tar sands mining project to date. With such projects on the table, Canada is second only to the United States in the planned growth of the oil and gas industry—counteracting any reduction gains from the Liberal government’s half-measures and making it impossible to meet Canada’s climate commitments.</p>
<p>The closeness of the Liberal government to Big Oil has actually been mapped. A new report by William Carrol, Nicolas Graham and David Chen of the Corporate Mapping Project (see their article in this issue) found that the level of contacts between fossil fuel companies and the current government matched those of the previous Conservative government. Over the first three years of the Trudeau government (to 2018), oil lobbyists had a staggering 3,791 contacts with officials. Yet somehow the <em>Globe and Mail </em>still thought it was appropriate, in 2019, to describe the Harper government, and not this one, as being “in cahoots with Big Oil.”</p>
<p>Thankfully, the Indigenous and youth-led resistance to pipelines will likely put a hamper in the Trudeau government’s plans for tar sands expansion (see the article in this issue by Hannah Muhajarine and Molly McCracken). But if no party makes a convincing case for a prosperous transition off oil, it may yet be the right-wing that harnesses the growing resentment, insecurity and anger in Canada for its own political advantage.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>Entering the new decade, the appetite has not abated among Canadians for the “radical options” Trudeau warned Bay Street financiers about in his 2015 presentation. Some 67% of us, according to a poll in September, believe that the “economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful.” Decades of slow, grinding cuts to the social safety net and the public sphere has left a dignified existence—decent wages, affordable housing, accessible education, etc.—out of reach for growing numbers of people.</p>
<p>Spending by the Liberal government has lifted a few hundred thousand people out of absolute poverty while child care credits have lowered cost of living for many people. But cost and quality of life dominated the last election as major public concerns. In mid-December, Statistics Canada reported, alarmingly, that more than 10% of all workers in Toronto and Vancouver are working in the temporary “gig” economy. Home ownership—a sought-after retirement strategy under our hollowed-out welfare state—is now an impossible dream for many people.</p>
<p>If “radical centrism” of the kind offered by Trudeau is not helping this situation, the question is whether it will be the right-wing who seizes on popular insecurity and directs it toward scapegoats, or whether a resurgent left can channel it in a movement against vested interests.</p>
<p>There are some hopeful signs. Class politics have made a return to western countries, however haltingly in Canada. Polls show enormous popularity for wealth taxation and programs like a Green New Deal. While the NDP under Jagmeet Singh has stopped its slow slide to the centre, its ability to advocate in opposition for the vastly ambitious policies that Canadians are evidently hungry for has yet to be seen.</p>
<p>The moral clarity and passion shown by a new crop of young left-wing parliamentarians suggests one way forward. But ultimately what we need is a voice for a radically different vision for the country—a vision rooted in redistribution, solidarity, and equality. Nothing less will test the Liberal government’s continued success in capturing voters by saying progressive things they may not ever mean.</p>
<hr />
<p><em>Martin Lukacs is an investigative journalist who has covered Canadian politics for more than a decade. He has been an environmental writer for </em>The Guardian<em> (U.K.) and was a co-author of the </em>Leap Manifesto<em>. His book, </em>The Trudeau Formula: Seduction and Betrayal in the Age of Discontent<em>, was published by Black Rose Books in late 2019.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/federal-election">Federal election</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/race-and-anti-racism">Race and anti-racism</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
</div>
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Fri, 20 Dec 2019 15:31:08 +0000Stuart Trew15061 at https://www.policyalternatives.caBeyond Neoliberalism: Toward a Trade Agenda for People and the Planethttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/multimedia/beyond-neoliberalism-toward-trade-agenda-people-and-planet
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<div class="field-item even"><p>The "Beyond Neoliberalism" workshop in Ottawa on October 30, 2019 was co-organized by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Trade Justice Network and Institute for Policy Studies, with support from Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-New York.</p>
<p>As a follow-up to the publication of the report <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/beyond-nafta-20" target="_self">Beyond NAFTA 2.0</a>, the goal of the workshop was to discuss alternatives to free-market or neoliberal globalization, as codified in today's free trade and investment protection agreements, and how we might begin to establish fairer and more sustainable models of production and exchange.</p>
<p>Click on the names below to hear their presentations to the "Beyond Neoliberalism" workshop.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/beyond-neoliberalism-the-struggle-for-fair-sustainable-trade-maude-barlow" target="_blank">Maude Barlow</a> - The past, present and future struggle for fair, sustainable trade (19:46)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/beyond-neoliberalism-indigenous-rights-and-trade-pamela-palmater" target="_blank">Pamela Palmater</a> - Indigenous rights, international law and trade treaties (10:30)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/beyond-neoliberalism-food-sovereignty-and-free-trade-gavin-friddel" target="_blank">Gavin Fridell</a> - Food sovereignty and trade (8:01)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/beyond-neoliberalism-trade-and-gender-laura-macdonald" target="_blank">Laura Macdonald</a> - Trade, gender and women's empowerment (12:48)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/au-dela-du-neoliberalisme-acces-a-des-medicaments-abordables-marc-andre-gagnon" target="_blank">Marc-André Gagnon</a> - Le libre-échange et l'<span class="soundTitle__title sc-font g-type-shrinkwrap-inline g-type-shrinkwrap-large-primary"><span>accès à des médicaments abordables</span></span> (en français, 13:08)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/beyond-neoliberalism-labour-rights-and-trade-meg-gingrich" target="_blank">Meg Gingrich</a> - Labour rights and the USMCA (10:38)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/beyond-neoliberalism-investment-protection-and-isds-manuel-perez-rocha" target="_blank">Manuel Pérez-Rocha</a> - Investment protection and investor-state dispute settlement (12:27)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/beyond-neoliberalism-digital-trade-and-rights-meghan-sali" target="_blank">Meghan Sali</a> - Digital trade and digital rights for all (14:52)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/au-dela-du-neoliberalisme-le-libre-echange-et-la-diversite-culturelle-claude-vaillancourt" target="_blank">Claude Vaillancourt</a> - Le libre-échange et la diversité culturelle (en français, 11:36)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/beyond-neoliberalism-trade-and-the-green-new-deal-scott-sinclair" target="_blank">Scott Sinclair</a> - Trade, public services and the Green New Deal (12:11)</li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/policyalternatives/beyond-neoliberalism-the-declining-economic-and-social-returns-of-free-trade-howard-mann" target="_blank">Howard Mann</a> - The declining economic and social returns of free trade (16:37)</li>
</ul>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 22, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-5 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/50">Audio</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/agriculture">Agriculture</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/biotechnology">Biotechnology</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/gender-equality">Gender equality</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/health-health-care-system-pharmacare">Health, health care system, pharmacare</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-3 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Projects:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/projects/trade-and-investment-research-project">Trade and Investment Research Project</a></div>
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Fri, 22 Nov 2019 16:13:04 +0000Stuart Trew15032 at https://www.policyalternatives.caBig Oil’s Political Reachhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/big-oil%E2%80%99s-political-reach
<div class="field field-name-field-secondary-title field-type-text field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even">Mapping fossil fuel lobbying from Harper to Trudeau</div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/nicolas-graham">Nicolas Graham</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/authors/william-k-carroll-0">William K. Carroll</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/david-chen">David Chen</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 5, 2019</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"> <div class="top-download-button">
<a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/BC%20Office%2C%20Saskatchewan%20Office/2019/11/ccpa-bc_cmp_BigOil_web.pdf" class="download button">Download</a><div class='meta'><span class="filesize">1.41 MB</span><span class="pages">64 pages</span></div> </div>
<p>In Canada between 2011 and 2018 the fossil fuel industry was one of the most active industry groups lobbying the federal government with over six contacts per working day made with government officials. During this period, the intensity of lobbying increased when salient policy issues—like the <em>Environmental Assessment Act—</em>arose or when there were big stakes for industry such as major pipeline decisions and approvals. </p>
<p>This study provides a network analysis of federal lobbying by the fossil fuel industry in Canada, covering both the Conservative government of Stephen Harper and the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau. The network this research uncovers amounts to a small world of intense interaction among relatively few lobbyists and the designated public office holders who are their targets. In comparing lobbying across the Harper and Trudeau administrations, we find a pattern of continuity-in-change: under Trudeau, the bulk of lobbying was carried out by the same large firms as under Harper but focused more on government bureaucrats rather than the members of Parliament who were more frequently contacted under Harper. The shifting pattern in focus is concerning as it indicates that elite policy networks outlast election cycles and potentially the stated platforms of elected officials. The study also examines lobbying in relation to specific projects such as pipeline proposals and decisions.</p>
<p class="bodytextnormal">The lobbying period under examination coincides with a period during which climate change was acknowledged as an increasingly urgent threat and one in which the Canadian economy became focused significantly around carbon intensive resources. </p>
<p><em>This report is part of the Corporate Mapping Project, a research and public engagement initiative investigating the power of the fossil fuel industry in Western Canada. The CMP is jointly led by the University of Victoria, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Parkland Institute. </em></p>
<p><em>The report is co-published by the Corporate Mapping Project and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives BC and </em><em>Saskatchewan</em><em>offices.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-field-attachments field-type-file field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Additional Documents:&nbsp;</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/BC%20Office%2C%20Saskatchewan%20Office/2019/11/ccpa-bc_cmp_BigOil_summary_web.pdf" class="">ccpa-bc_cmp_BigOil_summary_web.pdf</a><div class='meta'><span class="filesize">1.09 MB</span></div></li>
</ul>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/bc">BC Office</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/offices/saskatchewan">Saskatchewan Office</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-3 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Projects:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/projects/corporate-mapping-project">Corporate Mapping Project</a></div>
</div>
</div>
Tue, 05 Nov 2019 13:00:00 +0000Jean Kavanagh15010 at https://www.policyalternatives.caFossil fuel industry lobby influences federal policy regardless of who’s in government, new reporthttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/fossil-fuel-industry-lobby-influences-federal-policy-regardless-who%E2%80%99s
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 5, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p>(VANCOUVER) Over 60 per cent of voters in the recent federal election cast ballots for parties that campaigned to take action on the climate emergency. And, with the Liberal party returning to government having committed to more aggressively fight climate change, a new report suggests that the influence of the fossil fuel lobby may not bode well for the future of Canadian climate policy. </p>
<p>The report, <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/big-oils-political-reach"><em>Bi</em><em>g Oil’s Political Reach: Mapping fossil fuel lobbying from Harper to Trudeau</em></a>, finds that during both the governments of Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau the industry was remarkably active in lobbying the federal government. Also, the intensity of lobbying increased when salient policy issues—like the <em>Environmental Assessment Act—</em>arose or when there were big stakes for industry such as major pipeline decisions and approvals.</p>
<p>During the seven-year period studied (2011-2018) by the Corporate Mapping Project and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives BC and Saskatchewan offices, the fossil fuel industry recorded 11,452 lobbying contacts with elected and non-elected federal government officials, which amounts to over six contacts per working day. The bulk of lobbying directed at Harper and Trudeau was carried out by the same large firms.</p>
<p>“The network this research uncovers amounts to a small world of intense interaction among relatively few lobbyists and the designated public office holders who are their targets,” said author Nicolas Graham, a sessional sociology instructor at the University of Victoria who is conducting research on competing political projects for energy transition.</p>
<p>“The study also examines the timing and intensity of lobbying across the sector and among select firms to the formation of important policy frameworks and in relation to specific projects such as pipeline proposals and decisions. We argue that the strategic, organized and sustained lobbying efforts of the fossil fuel sector help to explain the past and continuing connection of federal policy to the needs of the fossil fuel industry,” he added.</p>
<p>The report is co-authored by William Carroll, sociology professor at the University of Victoria and co-Director of the Corporate Mapping Project, and David Chen, a University of Victoria sociology masters student, and notes that during the period under examination climate change was increasingly acknowledged as an urgent threat yet carbon intensive resources became a major focus of the economy. </p>
<p class="bodytextnormal">“There’s no doubt that climate change and fossil fuel extraction were vote-determining for significant sections of the population in the federal election,” Carroll said.</p>
<p>“The Liberals again campaigned on a promise to more aggressively fight climate change. The question of why Canada has been so politically paralyzed in pursuing decisive climate action and how to overcome this paralysis is urgent. It’s a problem of central concern to us at the Corporate Mapping Project,” he explained.</p>
<p class="bodytextnormal">The research looked at the two ends of the lobbying relationship—the fossil fuel firms and industry associations doing the lobbying and their government targets, and found:</p>
<ul>
<li>When compared to other resource industries, including forestry, automotive and renewable energy, fossil fuel industry associations were far more active lobbyists. The fossil fuel industry also lobbied the federal government at rates five times higher than environmental non-governmental organizations.</li>
<li>Lobbying is highly concentrated among large fossil fuel firms and key industry associations with 20 organizations accounting for 88 per cent of the total lobbying contacts by the industry.</li>
<li>The leading lobbyists during this period were the Mining Association of Canada and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, which both represent prominent fossil fuel firms.</li>
</ul>
<p class="bodytextnormal">“While it is not possible to determine with certainty the extent to which lobbying by any one group or sector directly influences public policy outcomes, industry continues to find value in employing lobbyists to exert continual pressure on decision-makers to develop policies that align with their interests,” Chen said.</p>
<p class="bodytextnormal">The report notes that while lobbying can serve the public interest, the financial resources available to the fossil fuel industry seem to put it at a distinct advantage in the system as it is currently designed. The authors say that changes in the regulation and conduct of lobbying are needed to ensure the public interest is better served and make recommendations to achieve this, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Improved transparency to begin levelling the playing field in a landscape with very powerful players like those representing fossil fuel companies.</li>
<li>Policies to proactively support more equal access to political influence so that industry is not over-represented when shaping policy. The authors explain this could be accomplished with increased support for public interest or public advocacy lobbying similar to BC’s Office of the Seniors Advocate, which represents seniors’ interests on issues like health care, housing, income, independence, transportation and mobility. Advocacy offices with similar powers could address a range of major issues that matter to Canadians and would help even the balance of power that currently heavily favours corporations, in particular those in the fossil fuel sector.</li>
</ul>
<p class="bodytextnormal">“In this time of climate crisis, transitioning away from fossil fuels in a rapid, democratic and socially just manner is essential,” says Carroll. “If we do not acknowledge and address the influence that the fossil fuel industry holds over government policy, we will not be able to take the steps necessary to adequately address the crisis with the urgency it requires.” </p>
<p> <em>The Corporate Mapping Project is jointly led by the University of Victoria, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (BC &amp; Saskatchewan offices) and the Parkland Institute. This research was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </em></p>
<p class="bodytextnormal"><strong>For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact Jean Kavanagh, </strong><a href="mailto:jean@policyalternatives.ca"><strong>jean@policyalternatives.ca</strong></a><strong> 604-802-5729</strong></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-3 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Projects:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/projects/corporate-mapping-project">Corporate Mapping Project</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/bc">BC Office</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/offices/saskatchewan">Saskatchewan Office</a></div>
</div>
</div>
Fri, 01 Nov 2019 21:22:31 +0000Jean Kavanagh15012 at https://www.policyalternatives.caTaking Stock of CETAhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/taking-stock-ceta
<div class="field field-name-field-secondary-title field-type-text field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even">Early Impacts of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement</div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/scott-sinclair">Scott Sinclair</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/authors/stuart-trew">Stuart Trew</a></div>
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</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">October 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
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</style><p><![endif]-->The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU was provisionally implemented on September 21, 2017, but won’t come fully into force until all European member states choose to ratify the deal. A new report by CCPA trade researcher Scott Sinclair and <em>Monitor</em> editor Stuart Trew, written for Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (U.S. and Canada), assesses some of the agreement’s key early impacts on Canada. The report examines changes in bilateral trade patterns (including exports from small and medium-sized companies), continuing quantitative imbalances in Canada’s bilateral trade with Europe, and the composition of imports and exports. It then attempts an early assessment of how public procurement “liberalization” under CETA has affected public contracts, noting that a recent Via Rail contract could not favour Canadian-made Bombardier trains over a bid from Siemens due to new restrictions on “buy local” policies. Finally, the report briefly examines CETA’s impacts on access to affordable medicines within Canada, the agreement’s potential impacts on public services, and the implications of the regulatory co-operation processes instituted within CETA’s more than a dozen bilateral working groups.
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/agriculture">Agriculture</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/health-health-care-system-pharmacare">Health, health care system, pharmacare</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/municipalities-and-urban-development">Municipalities and urban development</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-3 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Projects:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/projects/trade-and-investment-research-project">Trade and Investment Research Project</a></div>
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Thu, 17 Oct 2019 19:47:15 +0000Stuart Trew14999 at https://www.policyalternatives.caSummer of our digital discontenthttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/summer-our-digital-discontent
<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/john-anderson">John Anderson</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><p>Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and other tax-avoiding internet giants were in the news a lot this summer. Much of the credit for this can go to Emmanuel Macron. Despite pushback from big tech and U.S. President Donald Trump, the French president announced plans at this year’s G7 summit to introduce a 3% tax on digital revenues. Trump only backed down after Macron agreed to pay back some of these revenues once the OECD reaches a new agreement for taxing digital giants over the next year.</p>
<p>In fact, Macron’s 3% tax, which was backed by the Liberal Party in the federal election, is too meagre. It lets these super rich companies escape any real tax accountability. In Canada, for example, harmonized sales taxes hover around 13% depending on the province. If we simply required the digital giants to collect it on their domestic sales (which we don’t), governments would accrue four times what Macron wants to charge.</p>
<p>Prior to the election, the federal government had said it wouldn't act until the OECD presents its digital plan, an initial draft of which was expected in October. The problem with this approach is that the OECD tax chief has admitted there will be no “massive shift” in revenues, no “big losers or big winners” from the plan. “Countries should relax a bit on that one,” <a href="https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report-international/expect-oecd-digital-tax-plan-but-not-impact-report-in-october">he said</a> in mid-September.</p>
<p>Some countries don’t feel like waiting. In fact, there would have been no progress at the international level if individual countries hadn’t proceeded on their own, forcing some kind of international co-ordination. Quebec and Saskatchewan have applied taxes to imports of digital services, including streaming subscriptions. There’s no reason why the federal government shouldn’t have moved forward either.</p>
<p>This has never been about just slapping a new tax on the digital giants. For Canada, the question is why we should treat mostly foreign-owned big tech firms differently than every other Canadian company. A digital tax is about fairness, but the implications of not taxing these companies go much further—affecting the news we consume, the strength of our cultural industries and even our democratic institutions.</p>
<p>U.S.-based social media and streaming services, which now include Apple TV+ and Disney Plus, dominate online content in culture and in news. Yet none of them are required to abide by minimal Canadian content and language rules that apply to major broadcasters such as Rogers, Bell, Quebecor and Shaw. These Canadian firms must put 5% of their revenues toward new Canadian programming, for example.</p>
<p>Canada’s film and television producers and their viewers, particularly in Quebec, are understandably frustrated that Netflix does not have to produce new Canadian content or showcase older Canadian programming. Former Heritage Minister Melanie Joly’s deal with the popular streaming site, which included a non-binding promise by the firm to spend $500 million in Canadian programming over five years, has no commitment to French programming at all.</p>
<p>Had the federal government simply applied a sales tax to Netflix’s six million subscriptions in Canada it would have pulled in $500 million over five years. Facing pressure to rethink the arrangement, Joly’s successor as heritage minister, Pablo Rodriquez, recently said the government will change its policy toward digital giants—no matter what an external panel reviewing Canadian broadcasting recommends in January.</p>
<p>With respect to online news the situation is just as dire. Some 70–80% of online advertising in Canada, including a majority of all federal government ads, now goes to Google and Facebook—sales and income that are, for the most part, tax-free for the companies. Google even nabbed a quarter of all advertising in any media in 2017. No wonder Canadian newspapers are closing down, the latest being the Quebec chain Capital Media, which had to be propped up by the Quebec government. Over 250 newspapers have closed in Canada over the last 10 years, with many others reduced to websites.</p>
<p>The advertising is merely following the eyeballs. And here is where lack of regulation becomes a much bigger problem. More and more people now get their news over Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. All these U.S.-based companies control what you see (including news and advertising) and in what order using closely guarded algorithms.</p>
<p>In the broader sense of surveillance capitalism, which Shoshana Zuboff has so brilliantly written about (see the May/June issue of the <em>Monitor</em>), all these digital giants, untaxed and unregulated, know so much about everything we do and think that they can manipulate our data to better control our lives for profit. With this increased control, our limited democracy—not just business practices—are under increased threat.</p>
<p>Canada and the provinces along with big cities have to react strategically. The old policy watchwords of regulation, taxation and public ownership are still the best remedies. If we do not react in a hurry, like we should be reacting toward climate change, it may become too late at some point to safeguard our cultural protections and the many valuable, top quality industries and jobs that depend on them.</p>
<p>We cannot let the digital giants define who we are and where we are going as a country.</p>
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<p><em>John Anderson is an independent reseracher and consultant, and author of the CCPA report </em>An Over-the-top Exemption<em>.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/federal-election">Federal election</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/media-media-analysis">Media, media analysis</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Tue, 15 Oct 2019 14:49:14 +0000Stuart Trew14996 at https://www.policyalternatives.caHow high should top tax rates go?https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/how-high-should-top-tax-rates-go
<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/toby-sanger">Toby Sanger</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/authors/lars-osberg">Lars Osberg</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p>U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez provoked a lot of hostile—and positive—reaction earlier this year when she proposed the United States should introduce a top tax rate of 70% on incomes over $10 million, with revenues going to pay for a Green New Deal. Although many on the right belittled her idea, it was in fact firmly based on the historical record.</p>
<p>Both the U.S. and Canada had marginal tax rates of over 90% on top incomes during the 1950s, and Canada’s rate was over 60% throughout the high-growth years of 1940–80, when the average real wage of all Canadian workers grew strongly. The wage stagnation of the last 35 years has been accompanied by lower tax rates at the top, but for most of the 100-odd years income taxes have existed, high top marginal tax rates have been the norm.</p>
<p>Still, some pundits argue that high tax rates will make Canada “uncompetitive” and perhaps result in high earners leaving Canada or working less or taking more steps to avoid paying taxes or “the global talent pool” steering clear of the country. There is little evidence to justify these concerns. It’s one thing to bluster about leaving the country if income taxes go up, but that would also mean giving up the public services those taxes pay for and the opportunities to make money that a high quality public infrastructure enables.</p>
<p>And even if some of the affluent become more likely to want to avoid and evade their taxes, it is a public policy choice whether the rest of us let them—enforcement of tax laws and closing tax loopholes is a better option. The reality is Canada’s higher income earners are not paying their fair share and there is lots of room to increase top tax rates.</p>
<p>So, how high can we go? Revenue maximizing tax rates for top incomes are now estimated to be at least 60% for Canada and up to 80% in the United States. In his 2015 CCPA report, <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/how-much-income-tax-could-canadas-top-1-pay"><em>How Much Income Tax Can Canada’s Top 1% Pay</em></a><em>?</em>, Lars Osberg proposed that the federal government should increase its top rate (on income above $210,000) to 65%, which would increase revenues for the federal government by an estimated $21.8 to 26.1 billion.</p>
<p>The Trudeau government did, as the Liberals promised in the 2015 election, increase the top tax rate, but by a much smaller four percentage points—from 29% to 33%—starting in 2016. The government estimated this would add $3 billion to annual revenues. In response, some of Canada’s wealthier income earners shifted their declared income, and particularly discretionary forms of income such as dividends, to 2015, to take advantage of the 29% rate that was disappearing in 2016. This was reflected as a higher total declared income for this group in the 2015 tax year and a big drop in 2016. Opponents of the tax increase immediately claimed this was proof the tax hike was a failure.</p>
<p>But figures recently released for the 2017 tax year show that the incomes declared by the top 1% have rebounded again, as have the federal taxes they paid, similar to what was expected. Once the initial income timing response was over, the hike in the top marginal tax rate <em>has been</em> <em>effective</em> in raising revenues.</p>
<p>Importantly, the policy success means the federal government could probably increase the top income tax rate again, and by considerably more. The move would be appealing if only for its capacity to lower levels of inequality in Canada—by enhancing and expanding social services or redistributing some of this money to lower incomes.</p>
<p>In his new book, <em>Ideology and Capital,</em> French economist Thomas Piketty proposes a top tax rate of 90% on the incomes and wealth of the world’s richest people. We’re not there yet, but popular support for wealth taxes is growing. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t take more steps along the path to greater fairness in taxation. </p>
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<p><em>Toby Sanger is Executive Director of Canadians for Tax Fairness. Lars Osberg is currently McCulloch Professor of Economics at Dalhousie University and the recent author of The Age of Increasing Inequality (Lorimer).</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Tue, 15 Oct 2019 14:31:05 +0000Stuart Trew14992 at https://www.policyalternatives.caShould billionaires continue to exist?https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/should-billionaires-continue-exist
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<div class="field-item even"> How taxing wealth could tackle both wealth concentration and the climate crisis</div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/nate-wallace">Nate Wallace</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p>Wealth taxation is back on the progressive political agenda. It is both a refreshing new idea and a return to vogue of a policy established decade ago in Europe. Some remember it as part of François Mitterrand’s 110 <em>propositions pour France</em>, a joint electoral platform in 1981 with the Communist Party that carried him into the Élysée Palace. The solidarity tax on wealth survived multiple right-wing presidents, only to fall recently to President Macron.</p>
<p>Even so, it is an idea whose time has come in North America. It continues to exist in three OECD countries, and both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, two of the leading three Democratic contenders for U.S. president, have a plan to tax wealth in their platforms. The NDP also included a proposal for a wealth tax in its 2019 election platform, which was met with backlash and bad-faith critiques from the usual suspects.</p>
<p>Matthew Lau, who has written for the right-wing Fraser Institute and Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, called it “class warfare” and “confiscatory” <a href="https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/the-ndps-new-tax-the-rich-plan-is-terrible-even-by-their-standards">in a <em>Financial Post</em></a> column. This was followed by another piece in the same publication by the Montreal Economic Institute’s Gael Campman, who claimed t<a href="https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/taxing-wealth-might-sound-like-a-good-idea-but-it-would-be-a-tragic-mistake">axing wealth would be a “tragic mistake</a>,” seemingly oblivious to the existence of property taxes in Canada. Calling it a “demagogic ploy that ends up being counterproductive,” Campman brings up the prospect of the widely discredited “Laffer effect” of falling tax revenues from increasing taxation.</p>
<p>In a slightly more serious challenge, Robin Broadway and Pierre Pestieau call the wealth tax “Over the Top” in their recent <a href="https://www.cdhowe.org/public-policy-research/over-top-why-annual-wealth-tax-canada-unnecessary">C.D. Howe paper</a> of the same name, stating that it isn’t needed, and it would be more efficient to raise taxes on capital gains. Why not do both? Recent studies such as the CCPA’s <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/born-win" target="_blank"><em>Born to Win</em></a> have shown that Canada’s wealthiest 87 families now own the same amount as the lowest-earning 12 million Canadians, which is approximately equivalent to what everyone in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick collectively owns. In Canada, just two billionaires (David Thompson and Galen Weston) <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/oxfam-davos-report-canadians-wealth-1.3937073">own as much wealth</a> as a third of Canadians.</p>
<p>A bold tax policy package is sorely needed to address this kind of wealth hoarding, which contributes to soaring inequality. Along with a host of other progressive measures, the wealth tax in particular sits in the enviable position of being at the nexus of both good policy and good politics.</p>
<p>According to a recent <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5860959/canadians-society-politics-ipsos-poll/">Ipsos poll</a>, 67% of Canadians believe that “Canada’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful.” Another poll conducted by <a href="https://ricochet.media/en/2599/poll-over-two-thirds-of-canadians-back-a-wealth-tax">Abacus Data</a> found that 67% of Canadians also support the idea of a wealth tax, including 58% of Canadians self-identifying as “right-wing” and 64% of those who say they are in the political “centre.”</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>In his critique of the NDP’s modest wealth tax proposal, Campman alleges it would force poor farmers to sell their land and cause capital flight. Lau asks how the tax could work when wealth in financial assets can vary day by day depending on the stock market. As the OECD has pointed out, there are ways of getting around all these problems.</p>
<p>The best wealth tax systems have a series of exemptions regarding most forms of middle class wealth, such as pensions and primary homes, as well as exemptions for agricultural property. Assessments can occur every 3–5 years with options to apply for reassessment if a significant change in value occurs, and payments can be made in instalments for those taxpayers facing liquidity constraints.</p>
<p>Wealth taxes can apply to both domestic and international assets, be tied to citizenship and be negotiated by international tax treaties—to eliminate the incentive for capital flight. As proposed by Elizabeth Warren, you can introduce an “exit tax” at the same rate as an estate tax to seize assets from those who do choose to renounce their citizenship. With a rigorous enforcement regime, along with legislation to tackle tax havens, taxing wealth isn’t a pie-in-the-sky or unrealistic idea. It just takes political commitment and good policy design.</p>
<p>Casting aside the nitty gritty, the fundamental question we really should be asking ourselves when we design our wealth tax is should we allow billionaires to continue to exist?</p>
<p>Gabriel Zucman and Emmanuel Saez, two economists at the University of California, Berkeley who advised Elizabeth Warren on her wealth tax proposal, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/bpea-articles/progressive-wealth-taxation/">write</a> that the “revenue maximizing rate” runs as high as 6.5%—far beyond the NDP proposal of 1%. According to the economists, such a low rate would provide permanent revenues due to its quite limited effect on wealth concentration. Higher rates of wealth taxation, say, up to 10%, would more effectively dismantle entrenched wealth concentration over time with the trade-off being the loss of a permanent and reliable source of tax revenue.</p>
<p>Bernie Sanders’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/us/politics/bernie-sanders-wealth-tax.html">recently unveiled</a> wealth tax plan would cut in half the wealth of the typical billionaire over 15 years, according to Saez and Zucman. When the <em>New York Times</em> interviewed Sanders about his plan, they asked if he thought billionaires should exist in the United States. “I hope the day comes when they don’t,” he responded, adding, “It’s not going to be tomorrow.”</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-10-11%2010.08.57.png" width="367" height="1285" style="float: right; margin: 5px;" class="image-right" /></p>
<p>Sanders’s wealth tax (see box) is much more aggressive and much more steeply progressive than Warren’s plan, which begins at a 2% tax on wealth above US$50 million and adds an additional 1% surtax above the billion-dollar mark. The revenue differences are large: over 10 years, Warren’s plan would raise US$2.75 trillion while Sanders’s would raise US$4.35 trillion. The other significant difference is how the Sanders plan obliterates wealth concentration while Warren’s plan has a much more limited effect due to the fact that the wealth of the richest Americans grows at an average rate of <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/1843-letter-from-saez-zucman-about-bernie-sanders-wealth-tax/62daccab56ef75a2cbbb/optimized/full.pdf#page=1">6.6% a year</a>.</p>
<p>By comparison, the NDP’s plan for a 1% flat tax rate on wealth above $20 million seems quite modest. The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates the NDP proposal would rake in approximately $70 billion over 10 years, a value that includes the assumption that revenues from the wealth tax will be reduced by about 35% due to tax avoidance.</p>
<p>Rather than being “confiscatory,” as Lau suggests, Saez and Zucman write that “the marginal utility of a billionaire’s wealth is close to zero” and therefore “the revenue consequences of taxing billionaires outweigh the welfare consequences on billionaires.” Imagine for a moment what we could do if Canada plowed $70 billion into reducing poverty, fighting climate change or tackling the housing crisis. Canada’s oil barons can manage with one less yacht.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>We can see that a wealth tax would be good for redistribution. What of wealth concentration? Should we not also tax inheritances in order to stop the out-of-all-proportion pooling of family wealth through massive intergenerational transfers? The issue here is political. Sometimes inheritance taxes <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2015/03/19/inheritance-tax-most-unfair">poll poorly</a>, even when the tax only targets the passing down of unearned wealth. Even so, should we continue to allow oligarchs to control so much wealth and power while other Canadians continue to live in poverty?</p>
<p>The proper design of any wealth tax system ought to both balance revenue generation and target wealth concentration. Which is why if we swear off an inheritance tax, we should be jacking up wealth tax rates. And if we shy away from steeply progressive wealth tax rates, we need to at least implement an inheritance tax.</p>
<p>French economist Thomas Piketty, best known for his best-selling book <em>Capital in the 21<sup>st</sup> Century</em>, has just put out a new book entitled <em>Capital and Ideology</em>. In it he <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/billionaires-should-be-taxed-out-of-existence-says-thomas-piketty.html">proposes</a> a wealth tax with a rate that goes as high as 90% for those worth over two billion euros (almost $3 billion). He also states that billionaires actually harm economic growth and should be completely taxed out of existence. In a world in the midst of a climate emergency, it may also simply be necessary.</p>
<p>Piketty <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/piketty/2019/06/11/the-illusion-of-centrist-ecology/">writes</a> in <em>Le Monde</em> that “it is increasingly clear that the resolution of the climate challenge will not be possible without a strong movement in the direction of the compression of social inequalities at all levels.” This is because, “at world level, the richest 10% are responsible for almost half the emissions and the top 1% alone emit more carbon than the poorest half of the planet. A drastic reduction in purchasing power of the richest would therefore in itself have a substantial impact on the reduction of emissions at global level.”</p>
<p>When designing our wealth taxes, we should perhaps consider not only their redistributive power but also how they can attack the entrenched power of economic elites—and how this might help us save the planet along the way. As Piketty suggests, a wealth tax could be instrumental in shifting carbon intensive and socially useless elite consumption patterns.</p>
<p>Looking forward into the next decade, when large-scale economic decarbonization is on the agenda, we should also ask ourselves if this should mean moving toward a billionaire-free world. In the future we want to build, if we are asked the question, “Should billionaires exist?”, we should be able to confidently and resolutely answer: no.</p>
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<p> </p>
<p><em>Nate Wallace is Policy Director of the Young New Democrats.</em></p>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-2 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/federal-election">Federal election</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/health-health-care-system-pharmacare">Health, health care system, pharmacare</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Tue, 15 Oct 2019 14:21:50 +0000Stuart Trew14991 at https://www.policyalternatives.caThese rich folks want their inheritances taxed!https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/these-rich-folks-want-their-inheritances-taxed
<div class="field field-name-field-secondary-title field-type-text field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even">A call for justice from members of the Resource Movement</div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p>We are living with vast discrepancies between rich and poor in Canada. That much is undeniable. According to the <a href="https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/haves_and_have_nots">Broadbent Institute</a>, 10% of Canadians held almost half (47.9%) of all wealth in 2012. Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.cwp-csp.ca/poverty/just-the-facts/">around one in seven people (about 14%) live in poverty</a>, according to Canada Without Poverty. The gap between those with and without wealth is stark. According to a 2018 <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/born-win">CCPA report</a>, the wealthiest 87 families in Canada hold about 4,448 times as much wealth as the Canadian average. This gap is only growing.</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-10-15%2010.10.35.png" width="661" height="267" /></p>
<p>For many rich people, wealth comes not only from wages, but also from capital gains (through owning and trading stocks and bonds) and intergenerational transfers of money and land. The latter was often accumulated at the expense of marginalized communities such as Indigenous peoples, whose stolen resources and land continue to generate wealth for largely non-Indigenous people and their families. These forms of wealth persist (and grow) over generations and are not taxed as progressively as income in Canada. Inequality snowballs over time.</p>
<p>We personally have experienced this gap mostly from the wealthy side of the equation. And we do not believe that the concentration of money in the hands of just a small number of people is fair or beneficial to society. That is why we are members of a group called <a href="https://www.resourcemovement.org/">Resource Movement</a>. Founded in 2017, our movement’s mission is to unite young people with money and class privilege around a strategy to equitably distribute wealth, land and power. Resource Movement (a project of Tides Canada) was inspired by the U.S.-based <a href="https://resourcegeneration.org/">Resource Generation</a> and currently includes over 100 members.</p>
<p>Stark contrasts in wealth accumulation are fairly common around the world today, but they are not inevitable. Wealth gaps are the result of social and political choices: choices like prioritizing tax breaks for the rich and expanding fossil fuel production over increasing the number of people with access to child care and expanding the availability of affordable housing. We believe, as individuals who are or have been part of wealthy families and communities, that no one needs the levels of wealth that some people in Canada currently command.</p>
<p>The level of inequality we are experiencing today is a threat to us all. Indeed, several recent prominent works, such as <em>Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Ages of Discord, The Spirit Level, The Inner Level, </em>and <em>Inequality: What Can Be Done?</em>, have stressed that disparities in wealth and power—like those we experience here in Canada—tend only to grow more and more extreme over time. This leads to increasingly drastic consequences: high rates of poverty and immiseration, polarization and political gridlock, increased crime and social and domestic violence.</p>
<p>In addition to opposing inequality for its unfairness, we don't want to live in a world with these material disparities, hierarchies and power differentials between people. We see how wealth inequality negatively affects people we know, our relationships, and ourselves.</p>
<p>Fortunately, there are some compelling ideas out there to close the wealth gap. Many other societies, present and past, have turned these ideas into action. Promising measures include <a href="https://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/platform-tax-fairness">estate taxes on properties </a><a href="https://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/platform-tax-fairness">worth several millions of dollars</a>, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/08/28/tax-on-super-rich-a-popular-idea-except-in-the-media.html">a wealth tax for the super-rich</a>, <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/how-much-income-tax-could-canadas-top-1-pay">restoring </a><a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/how-much-income-tax-could-canadas-top-1-pay">higher income tax brackets for those earning extremely high salaries</a>, <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/preferential-treatment">eliminating tax loopholes</a> and <a href="https://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/platform-tax-fairness">cracking down on tax evasion</a>.</p>
<p>Implementing any of these measures would begin to redress the stark wealth inequality we are living with. Implementing them all would go even further. Ultimately, we want to see steps taken to build a world where wealth and power are shared, and Indigenous land rights are respected.</p>
<p>Many members of Resource Movement expect to receive large inheritances, so we are particularly supportive of the reintroduction of a federal inheritance tax—a form of wealth tax that exists in all other G7 nations. Recent calculations from the 2019 Alternative Federal Budget suggest that a 45% tax on inherited estates valued at over $5 million would generate $2 billion of federal revenue.</p>
<p>Aimed only at multimillion-dollar inheritances, this tool would make a dent in Canada’s inequality while raising revenue that could, for example, begin to address the climate crisis or provide affordable child care and housing for all of us. We see this as an easy and necessary first step to closing Canada’s immense and growing wealth gap.</p>
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<p><em><strong>Daniel Hoyer</strong> is a historian and project manager of the Seshat: Global History Databank, and a part-time professor at George Brown College's Centre for Preparatory &amp; Liberal Studies. <strong>Lindsay Wiginton </strong>grew up, lives and works as a transportation planner on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee, the Huron-Wendat and the Anishinaabe Peoples. <strong>David Gray-Donald</strong> lives in Regina, Treaty 4 territory, but grew up in Toronto where he attended Upper Canada College. He is the publisher of Briarpatch Magazine and writes about climate justice. <strong>Bronwyn Oatley</strong>, an organizer based in Tkaronto, is an early inheritor committed to fighting for a more equitable distribution of wealth, land and power. <strong>Claire Trottier</strong>, an assistant professor at McGill University, won the lottery of life by being born in a wealthy family. <strong>Sylvie Trottier</strong> is a mother, environmentalist and member of a wealthy family who is committed to a sustainable and equitable future. <strong>Jon McPhedran Waitzer</strong> is a white, jewish, queer &amp; genderqueer settler living in Tio'tia:ke (Montreal), on the traditional territories of the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka. <strong>Selin Jessa</strong> lives in Montreal/Tio'tia:ke, unceded territory of the Kanien'keha:ka, where she is a PhD student at McGill University. The authors are all members of Resource Movement (see Contributors page for more about each of them.)</em></p>
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<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/health-health-care-system-pharmacare">Health, health care system, pharmacare</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Tue, 15 Oct 2019 14:13:31 +0000Stuart Trew14990 at https://www.policyalternatives.caWhat riches await…https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/what-riches-await%E2%80%A6
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<div class="field-item even">Canada treats mining companies like the goose that laid the golden egg. What we get in return looks more like a goose egg.</div>
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<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/jamie-kneen">Jamie Kneen</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-10-15%2009.43.54.png" alt="View of Greek mine site" width="1434" height="846" /> Mining enjoys massive government support in Canada. Politically, it’s treated as a preferred development option for remote communities and Indigenous peoples. Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall once said, “The best program for First Nations and Métis people in Saskatchewan is not a program at all—it's [uranium mining company] Cameco.” The law backs this up. Mining companies still have rights to “free entry” in much of Canada, since mining is legally considered the “highest and best” use of land. Though these laws are being challenged by First Nations, today prospectors can stake claims and even drill or trench without any consideration for other land users, or in some cases, even private landowners.</p>
<p>There are also financial incentives to mine. The federal and provincial governments and territories spend hundreds of millions on road and power corridors to support mining projects, while supporting training for mining skills that are often not highly transferrable. Already low corporate tax rates are further reduced by accelerated capital cost allowances and deductions for exploration and development costs. “Flow-through” shares allow mining companies to pass exploration costs onto investors as tax deductions. And while they’ve been slowly getting better, Canadian jurisdictions still dramatically undercharge mining companies when it comes to setting aside money to clean up spills or for long-term environmental monitoring and rehabilitation.</p>
<p>All of this is justified publicly by the creation of jobs, contribution to GDP and exports—and <em>taxes paid</em>. Mining does create “good pay” jobs, though more of these are displaced from other sectors than the industry will admit. Mining does generate export earnings and boost GDP, though economists will argue about whether these really represent development, especially when what is being exported is raw materials with little value added. So, what of the taxes?</p>
<p>On paper, mining operations pay corporate tax and sales tax, among others, along with royalties (sometimes called “mining tax”) intended to compensate the state for the permanent loss of whatever resource is being extracted. Depending on the audience, mining companies will either brag or complain about the amount of tax they pay. They rarely explain how those amounts are calculated, much less compare them to what they might have had to pay if it weren’t for the lowered tax rates, tax holidays and exemptions. More egregiously, they also like to take credit for the taxes that their workers pay.</p>
<p>James Wilt, writing in <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/mining-pay-less-taxes-canada-abroad/">The Narwhal</a> in July last year, found that Canadian governments collect a smaller percentage of mineral value than almost any other jurisdiction in the world. There are a number of explanations for this, ranging from low tax rates to grace periods and tax holidays, as mentioned, to using a variable base for calculating royalties. Canada is unusual internationally, for example, in the extent to which it charges royalties based on profits rather than on the amount of mineral extracted, allowing for deductions and “profit-shifting” to diminish the amount owed.</p>
<p>In an extreme example, the CBC’s Rita Celli reported in May 2015 that in 2013-14, De Beers Canada paid the Ontario government $226 in royalties from its Victor Mine in Attawapiskat, the only diamond mine in the province. “The diamond royalty stirred a huge debate when the Ontario government suddenly introduced it in 2007,” wrote Celli. “Then-premier Dalton McGuinty promised it would enrich all Ontarians. He promised the money would be used to hire more nurses and keep class sizes small in schools.”</p>
<p>The low figure was due to De Beers having been allowed to write down its capital investment against the royalties. Tom Ormsby, De Beers’ vice-president of external and corporate affairs, told Celli the company started to pay millions in 2014. Its reports under Canada’s Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), in force since 2015, show it paid US$15.8 million in royalties in 2016 (on earnings of US$79 million) and US$11.3 million in 2017 (on earnings of US$205 million). The mine closed in early 2019. In other words, the mine probably generated almost nothing for the province for the entire first half of its production, and probably less than $100 million over its 11-year life.</p>
<p>Any assessment of the millions in taxes and royalties from mining operations has to include the overall value of the resource, as they remove many times more millions of dollars’ worth of metals. Any honest calculation also has to include not only the overall flow of money to governments, but also the subsidies, costs and liabilities, including social disruption and damage to local economies and the environment.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>Internationally, the Canadian government takes the promotion of Canadian mining companies very seriously indeed. This is demonstrated by the fact that while Canadian and international civil society has been pushing for almost two decades for restrictions on the international activities of Canadian companies, the federal government has refused to recognize that illegal activity and human rights and environmental abuses are even happening, much less restrict them—or enforce the sole piece of legislation we do have, the anti-bribery Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act.</p>
<p>At the same time, Canada provides massive support for transnational mining investment, both politically and economically. It helps explain why so many mining companies are domiciled in Canada, even if they have no Canadian operations, or even no Canadian directors, and regardless of who actually owns the majority of their shares.</p>
<p>Our embassies contribute “economic diplomacy,” which includes pressuring foreign governments to support favourable legislation and policies and helping build relationships between mining executives and foreign officials, such as mining ministers and state presidents. Canadian diplomats also provide support directly to companies, going so far as to help them comply with regulations and apply for permits. Even our development aid is skewed toward rewarding countries and regions that are willing to host Canadian mining projects, and assisting governments in administering mining laws so as to smooth the way for Canadian investment.</p>
<p>Economic support is both direct (investment from the Canada Pension Plan and Canadian Investment Fund for Africa, for example, or loans and political risk insurance from Export Development Canada) and indirect. Canada has built a massive network of tax treaties, bilateral investment treaties and free trade agreements that all serve to facilitate and protect Canadian investment, as well as allowing profits to be shifted through subsidiary companies to avoid taxation. It’s all perfectly legally, if you do it right.</p>
<p>The result is a ballooning offshore pool of wealth sitting in tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions in the Caribbean, Channel Islands, and even some U.S. states—wealth that is not taxed to benefit the countries it was extracted from, or even the country that worked so hard to facilitate it (in this case, Canada). Governments that try to protect their own people and ecosystems from mining destruction face the threat of multimillion-dollar lawsuits through arbitration provisions in those investment agreements.</p>
<p>To pick just one example, Eldorado Gold has been struggling for years to overcome committed local opposition to its planned Skouries open-pit gold mine in Halkidiki, northern Greece. Local people opposed to the massive project have raised objections over the destruction of a forest that is of immense cultural and historic significance—it is where local partisans gathered to strategize and mobilize against the fascists, and now serves as a focus for tourism, beekeeping, etc.—and the contamination of freshwater supplies (the ore is loaded with arsenic, among other things).</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-10-15%2009.57.43.png" alt="Chart showing Eldorado Gold profits from sites" width="1114" height="519" /></p>
<p>They have also questioned the promised benefits for the Greek state—with good reason. A study led by the Dutch organisation SOMO (the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations) found the company has structured its investment with tax avoidance in mind. Subsidiaries in the Netherlands will allow Eldorado to shift profits from Greece to the Netherlands and Barbados, minimizing exposure to taxes and leaving Greeks with little to show for the mine’s ecological, social and economic disruption. SOMO calculated this arrangement had cost Greece 1.7 million euros in lost tax in 2013-14 alone (nearly $2.5 million based on the exchange rate at the time).</p>
<p>A look at Eldorado Gold’s payments to governments, as disclosed under ESTMA, shows that as of 2018, the company made significant payments in Turkey, where most of its gold production is, but nowhere else. Not even Canada, where it is supposedly headquartered, but also where it now operates the Lamaque Mine outside of Val-d’Or, Quebec.</p>
<p>What we don’t know is how much the company should have paid in the absence of what the accountants call “aggressive tax planning,” or what the rest of us call tax dodging. Nor does this accounting show how much has been set aside as security bond for closure, cleanup, and possible spills and accidents.</p>
<p>It makes sense that Turkey, as the primary host of Eldorado Gold’s operations, should benefit most. It’s an open question whether the country benefits enough to compensate for the loss of its gold-bearing ore, not to mention the various forms of damage occasioned by mining or the liabilities it leaves behind. And it’s more than likely that the company has minimized its exposure to Turkish taxes.</p>
<p>But at the same time, there is clearly no direct return for Canada from all of the support we provide. If share value increases or the company pays dividends we can benefit as shareholders—through our pensions, RRSPs or the Canada Pension Plan. But clearly the loot is mostly being scooped up by others: well-paid company executives, the banks that finance all of this, and the legal, accounting and investment houses.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, the notion that mining is good for Canada is pretty dubious. The reality within Canada is much more complex than our governments and most of the media are willing to admit. In other parts of the world, the reality is that Canadian mining primarily benefits the mining companies, their local backers, and their financiers. Its contributions to “host” countries are variable and on balance generally negative. Despite all the effort from public officials, Canada hardly benefits at all. It’s past time we started to dismantle the legal, regulatory, financial and political support that feeds and sustains this false narrative.</p>
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<p><em>Jamie Kneen is Comunications and Outreach Co-ordinator at MiningWatch Canada.</em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/agriculture">Agriculture</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/energy-policy">Energy policy</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Tue, 15 Oct 2019 13:55:00 +0000Stuart Trew14989 at https://www.policyalternatives.caThe case for transparency in the mining, oil and gas sectorhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/case-transparency-mining-oil-and-gas-sector
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<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/kady-seguin">Kady Seguin</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/authors/emily-nickerson">Emily Nickerson</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p>Canada is one of the biggest extractive sector players in the world. We are home to approximately 60% of the world’s mining companies, and the Toronto Stock Exchange and Venture Exchange host more oil and gas companies than any other exchange in the world. Collectively, these companies have interests in over 100 countries.</p>
<p>Whether through taxes, royalties, bonuses or fees, extractive companies make significant payments to resource-rich countries and communities around the world for their natural resources. Until recently, these numbers were shrouded in secrecy. Citizens had no way of knowing how much money their governments were making from their natural resources or how those revenues were being spent. This opacity has fuelled corruption and mismanagement in many resource-rich countries and stifled informed dialogue about how natural resources should be managed.</p>
<p>Recognizing the benefit of increased transparency, PWYP-Canada (Publish What You Pay Canada), with the Natural Resource Governance Institute, the Mining Association of Canada and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, launched the Resource Revenue Transparency Working Group. Together these organizations promoted mandatory disclosure requirements for Canadian mining companies operating in Canada and around the world.</p>
<p>In 2014, responding to the working group’s campaign, the federal government passed the <a href="https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mining-materials/estma/18180">Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act</a> (ESTMA). Canadian extractive companies are now required to publish their payments per project in countries where they operate. The act requires large private oil, gas and mining companies, along with those listed on a Canadian stock exchange, to disclose the payments they make to governments in Canada and abroad on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis.</p>
<p>Many were surprised to see the Canadian mining industry supporting these requirements and sometimes actively pushing for them. But there are clear benefits to the industry from transparency, including the opportunity to demonstrate leadership on a global scale. As highlighted by the Mining Association of Canada on its website, “[t]he enhanced transparency resulting from this legislation will help reduce instances of corruption by enabling citizens around the world to hold their governments accountable for how they allocate and spend mining revenues. It will also help to ensure that these revenues contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction.”</p>
<p>For many companies, enhanced transparency is good for business. It can promote a more stable investment climate and help secure a social licence to operate. During debate on ESTMA, investors in the mining sector expressed the desire to see companies disclosing what they pay to governments in order to assess project- and country-specific reputational and tax risks. As the use of tax havens continues to receive more and more attention, investors are paying closer attention to such information.</p>
<p>One of the key things that PWYP-Canada heard from many extractive companies during the transparency working group campaign was that people, communities, and sometimes even governments often believe a company has paid significantly less or more in taxes and other payments then is the case. Some companies had been wrongly accused of paying no taxes at all.</p>
<p>While companies can voluntarily disclose this information—and some did prior to the passing of ESTMA—the fact the company is legally required to do so provides a much stronger level of credibility to this data. Furthermore, legal transparency requirements level the playing field while providing a full and clear picture of the industry to citizens and communities interested in what companies in their region are paying governments at various levels (local, regional, national).</p>
<p>The question of how much a company should pay in taxes and other payments is an important one, as is the question of whether to extract natural resources at all. There are a variety of social, environmental and economic considerations that need to be made, including how much money governments will earn from the project. Without this information, it is almost impossible to have a meaningful and informed conversation about whether what is being paid (or will be paid) is fair.</p>
<p>There have been numerous debates in Canada over the taxation regime, federally and in the provinces and territories, for oil, gas and mining companies. These debates often take place in the absence of tangible data on how much money such projects contribute to the public purse. It’s time for a more data-driven conversation about the value of mining and extracting natural resources. The transparency requirements in ESTMA take us a step in the right direction.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p><em>Kady Seguin is the Technical Director at IMPACT and previously led the campaign for ESTMA legislation as the Interim Director at PWYP-Canada. Emily Nickerson is the Director of PWYP-Canada and leads efforts in Canada to make oil, gas and mineral governance open, accountable, sustainable, equitable and responsive to all people. Data on payments to national and foreign governments from extractive entities active in Canada can be found on the Natural Resources Canada website. For global information, including data from Canada and countries with similar legislation, see </em><a href="http://www.resourceproject.org"><em>www.resourceproject.org</em></a><em>. </em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/employment-and-labour">Employment and labour</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/human-rights">Human rights</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/indigenous-issues">Indigenous issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/law-and-legal-issues">Law and legal issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Tue, 15 Oct 2019 13:37:46 +0000Stuart Trew14987 at https://www.policyalternatives.caAn irresistible march toward fiscal justicehttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/irresistible-march-toward-fiscal-justice
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/samuel-%C3%A9lie-lesage">Samuel-Élie Lesage</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p><em>Échec aux paradis fiscaux</em> was founded in 2011 by a small group of unions and civil society organizations fed up with how easily corporations and high-wealth individuals avoid paying taxes. Slowly, the coalition has grown to the point that today, nearly all Québec’s unions are members, alongside a great number of other groups and two national student associations. In the past three years, we have met with executives at the Canada Revenue Agency, organized demonstrations, took part in parliamentary consultations (provincial and federal), and held public conferences and civil education workshops in Québec.</p>
<p>I believe the strength of our campaign for greater fiscal justice comes from Québec’s rich history of social struggle and popular support for public services. While it is true that those very services are currently undermined by austerity policies and privatization initiatives, the people of Québec understand that other political choices would be possible if the funds lost to money laundering and tax havens were brought back within the reach of fiscal authorities.</p>
<p>In that regard, it <em>infuriates</em> Quebecers that we still have a two-tier tax system, where the rich and the most powerful megacorporations are legally allowed to avoid taxes without fear of recrimination. Québec is almost unanimously in favour of requiring that Netflix charge and remit sales taxes, for example, while the federal government claims that legal tax avoidance by internet-based service providers is best for the middle-class. Nonsense! Other tax scandals such as the Panama and Paradise Papers leaks gathered enormous attention here.</p>
<p>When <em>Échec</em> members meet with the public, we find they are genuinely interested and surprisingly well informed on the matter of tax havens. This popular concern has translated into government action. For example, while Ottawa has done nothing to stanch the flow of taxes out of the country (and even worsened the situation), Québec launched an extensive inquiry into how tax havens impair public finances that produced a government action plan in 2017. Although seriously imperfect, the plan dares to acknowledge the existence of tax havens and puts forward some interesting policy ideas.</p>
<p>As I am writing these words, Québec is planning another consultation on the implementation of a public beneficial ownership registry. The policy would reveal who benefits from legal entities such as companies and trusts, make those people accountable if they try to snow-wash money or avoid their taxes, and would considerably bolster corporate transparency. Along with British Columbia's public registry on properties, the Québec action confirms how political mobilization and public interest shape and influence policy-making.</p>
<p>In the lead-up to the October election, all the main parties put forward policy ideas to tackle tax avoidance, yet similar promises in the past have been forgotten by incoming governments. Still, the population has never been more aware of this issue and rightly demands more from their leaders. In order to put the fight against tax avoidance at the forefront of the election, the Échec coalition asked each party to commit to 12 radical and innovative solutions to the problems of tax havens and money laundering. Where they said we were asking too much, we pointed out that many of these measures are already in place or being considered in other countries.</p>
<p>For instance, the government should restrict access to the CRA’s pardon program—which lets some tax avoiders who come forward voluntarily avoid paying much of the back tax they owe—and put the agency under better scrutiny. We also need new tools to tackle tax avoidance via diverted profit logging (of the sort practised by Google) and to increase corporate transparency. A public ultimate ownership registry would help in this regard, as would ending legalized tax avoidance through Canada’s fiscal conventions such as tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs), which let Canadian companies repatriate profits logged in known tax havens without paying taxes.</p>
<p>Finally, Canada must be at the forefront of the fight for fiscal justice by proactively promoting new models of international financial governance. We advocate the idea of unitary international corporate taxation. Rather than considering each company of a multinational firm as an autonomous entity, which facilitates tax restructuring and avoidance, multinational companies should be taxed based on their consolidated revenues, and on profits realized in each country.</p>
<p>The world urgently needs to transition to a cleaner and more equitable economy. With all the new public investment this transition entails, reforms that put an end to tax avoidance and tax havens have never been more important. Pressure is growing for our politicians to do more, and more importantly to do better. Other countries are showing the way by trying different, innovative approaches to end tax havens. I believe Canada should be one of them.</p>
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<p><em>Samuel Lesage is spokesperson for Échec aux paradis fiscaux. He thanks Benjamin Gingras for his help with this article, and Alain Denault </em><em>for his extensive work, with the Réseau pour la justice fiscale, on tax avoidance and the links between Canadian diplomacy and Caribbean-based tax havens.</em></p>
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<div class="field-label">Issue:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/federal-election">Federal election</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/inequality-and-poverty">Inequality and poverty</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/public-services-and-privatization">Public services and privatization</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Tue, 15 Oct 2019 13:30:41 +0000Stuart Trew14984 at https://www.policyalternatives.caA "soft target for crooks and kleptoctrats"https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/soft-target-crooks-and-kleptoctrats
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<div class="field-item even">How a beneficial ownership registry would clear up Canada&#039;s snow-washing problem</div>
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<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/erika-beauchesne">Erika Beauchesne</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p>When John Penrose visited Canada this year to address <a href="https://www.taxfairness.ca/fr/node/1139">a global anti-corruption summit</a>, he brought some advice for his host country. The U.K. member of parliament told government representatives of a powerful anti-corruption tool that would cost less to implement than paving a few kilometres of road.</p>
<p>He was talking about a public registry of beneficial owners, a searchable database that identifies the true owners of companies. In jurisdictions without public registries, companies can be established without ever revealing the identify of the person or people controlling them. Businesses can then be used to move illicit funds, including proceeds of corrupt governments, trafficking and terrorism. White-collar criminals also profit from the secrecy, which slows down investigators and tax authorities.</p>
<p>As the U.K. prime minister’s Champion on Anti-Corruption, Penrose knows a thing or two about tackling the kind of crime that occurs behind anonymous ownership. His government was the first in the world to introduce a public registry to draw criminals out from the shadows. Penrose spoke about the initiative at the <a href="https://www.opengovpartnership.org/events/ogp-global-summit-2019-ottawa-canada/">Open Government Partnership</a> Summit in Ottawa this spring, where officials, academics and civil society representatives from 79 countries gathered to promote more open democracies. He was joined on stage by representatives from Ukraine and other jurisdictions that see the value of beneficial ownership transparency.</p>
<p>The Canadian government, however, appears to be mostly watching from the sidelines, even as the situation worsens at home. Weak transparency laws—they are <a href="https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/while_the_g20_drags_its_feet_the_corrupt_continue_to_benefit_from_anonymous">among the worst in the G20</a>—have made Canada a money laundering hot spot. A C.D. Howe Institute report earlier this year estimated that <a href="https://www.cdhowe.org/public-policy-research/why-we-fail-catch-money-launderers-999-percent-time">up to $130 billion in illicit funds</a> cross our borders every year. The practice of cleaning dirty money in the Canadian economy has grown so common that international experts found a special term for it: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_washing">snow-washing</a>.</p>
<p>"We are at the back of the pack on beneficial ownership transparency,” says James Cohen, executive director of Transparency International Canada, one of several organizations advocating for a pan-Canadian public registry of beneficial ownership. “While our peers make the move to address this policy, Canada becomes an increasingly soft target for crooks and kleptocrats,” he warned.</p>
<p>It’s not hard to understand why criminals are drawn to Canada: there are more rigorous checks to <a href="http://www.transparencycanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/TIC-BeneficialOwnershipReport-Interactive.pdf#page=10">obtain a library card here than to set up a shell company</a>. Under the cover of a legitimate business, criminals can stash their dirty money in various sectors of the economy, from casinos to real estate. The effects have been especially felt in British Columbia, where money laundering has <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/politics/money-laundering-hikes-b-c-real-estate-prices-report">increased housing prices by about 5%</a>, according to an expert panel report this spring.</p>
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<p><strong>How do beneficial ownership registries work?</strong></p>
<p>Federal and provincial governments <a href="https://www.pwyp.ca/resources/building-a-transparent-beneficial-ownership-registry">already have business registries</a> that are updated whenever a company is created, dissolved, amalgamated, or when it changes ownership, address and other information. A public, searchable pan-Canadian registry would add beneficial ownership fields to these existing corporate registries, identifying the individual investing in and controlling the company rather than a nominee or “straw man.”</p>
<p><strong>What data does a registry contain?</strong></p>
<p>Basic information such as name, partial date of birth, address, country of residency, and whether the owner is a person of interest or head of an international organization. For privacy reasons, some of that information would be limited to government or law enforcement officials, but a unique identifier can be used to search related entities and activities.</p>
<p><strong>Who benefits?</strong></p>
<p>Law enforcement tracking illicit activity; tax officials investigating avoidance or evasion schemes in Canada and across multiple jurisdictions; real estate and financial institutions carrying out due diligence checks; Canadian businesses verifying customers, creditors and potential partners; journalists and civil society investigating matters of public interest and safety, etc.</p>
<p><strong>Which jurisdictions are leading on transparency?</strong></p>
<p>The U.K. was one of the first to implement a public registry of beneficial owners and recently passed a law requiring overseas territories, such as the British Virgin Islands, to do the same. The European Union has required member nations to create public registries by 2020. A number of regions <a href="https://thefactcoalition.org/anonymous-companies-help-finance-illicit-commerce-and-harm-american-businesses-and-citizens?utm_medium=policy-analysis/reports/fact-reports">have or are in the process of adopting</a> beneficial ownership registry laws, including Brazil, South Africa, Ukraine and others. Within Canada, B.C. requires public registries of beneficial ownership for property through its <a href="https://www.ubcm.ca/EN/meta/news/news-archive/2019-archive/land-owner-transparency-act-introduced.html">Land Owner Transparency Act</a>,whichmandates that corporations, trusts and partnerships disclose beneficial owners at the time of legal transfer of a property, and any changes in ownership.</p>
<p><strong>Who </strong><strong>supports a public registry</strong><strong>?</strong></p>
<p>The Canadian Money Services Business Association, Open Concept, the AML Shop, Mining Watch, the Canadian Labour Congress, FACT Coalition, IMPACT, and many other organizations.</p>
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<p>Transparency International’s research in Vancouver found the beneficial owners of nearly half the city’s most valuable properties were hidden behind shell companies, trusts and nominee owners. Then came a hard-hitting report from former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German this spring revealing that 13,678 residential properties in B.C. were owned by individuals or entities in one of 113 countries outside of Canada, more than a fifth of which are from known high-risk jurisdictions.</p>
<p>In response to the findings, the B.C. government called a public inquiry into its money laundering problem and committed to creating a public registry of beneficial owners for property—a Canadian first, and “one of the biggest steps of any government in the world to address beneficial ownership transparency,” according to Cohen. It could take time for federal and provincial governments to reach a consensus on a pan-Canadian registry, but Cohen says that’s even more reason for jurisdictions like B.C. to press ahead with their own measures, like a public land registry.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>Governments that don’t act should consider themselves warned, according to Maureen Maloney, professor at the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University and chair of the expert panel that produced the report <em>Combating Money Laundering in B.C. Real Estate</em>. In an interview this year with <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-may-16-2019-1.5137392/money-laundering-is-canada-s-problem-not-just-the-west-coast-s-expert-warns-1.5137412">CBC’s The Current</a>, Maloney cautioned that other provinces will find they have a much bigger issue once criminals start moving their money out of B.C. in search of a new home. The expert panel calculated that other provinces are already awash in the activity, with an estimated $10.2 billion of illegal flows in Alberta in 2015, and $8.2 billion worth in Ontario.</p>
<p>The Greater Toronto Area—where property prices and homelessness have been on the rise—is especially vulnerable, according to <a href="https://www.taxfairness.ca/sites/default/files/resource/bot-gta-report-web_copy.pdf">a joint report</a> this year by Transparency International Canada, Canadians for Tax Fairness, and Publish What You Pay Canada. The report examined more than 1.4 million property transactions in the GTA and found at least $20 billion entered the GTA housing market over the last decade without oversight or due diligence on beneficial owners and source of funds. Companies were more than three times as likely as individuals to purchase real estate without a mortgage.</p>
<p>All of this has prompted a wave of support for greater transparency across the board. One of Canada’s largest single-industry trade associations, the Ontario Real Estate Association, backed calls for a public registry of beneficial owners of property. CEO and former provincial Progressive Conservative party leader Tim Hudak told <em>the Toronto Star</em> the policy solution was “<a href="https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9352574-realtors-call-for-land-registry-to-crack-down-on-money-laundering/">a no brainer</a>.”</p>
<p>Municipalities have a major stake as well. Regional governments have been left to deal with the localized effects of money laundering and other criminal activity, including drug and human trafficking, a worsening fentanyl crisis, and lack of affordable housing. Revenues lost to tax evasion have added insult to injury, as governments claw back public services rather than addressing the root of their revenue problems.</p>
<p>Tax experts recognize the need for greater transparency. A recent <a href="https://www.pipsc.ca/news-issues/shell-game">survey of Canada Revenue Agency</a> professionals found 61% believe Canada is too secretive about beneficial ownership and even more (75%) agree that federal and provincial governments should require corporations to publicly identify beneficial ownership relationships.</p>
<p>Business too is building a case for lifting the veil on anonymous ownership. Legitimate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/macewan-university-phishing-scam-edmonton-1.4270689">lost millions</a> from being taken advantage of by criminals hiding behind shell companies. Law enforcement is having a hard time tracking the perpetrators down, much less recovering lost funds. The C.D. Howe Institute found that <a href="https://www.cdhowe.org/media-release/fight-against-dirty-money-needs-tougher-measures-cd-howe-institute">99.9% of money launderers are never caught</a> due to the difficulty of tracing money through a complex web of secret corporate entities.</p>
<p>SMEs and big business alike need access to beneficial ownership information to help them make informed decisions about their supply chains, says <a href="http://www.bteam.org/team/robin-hodess-2/">Robin Hodess</a>, a panellist at the Open Government Partnership summit this spring and director for the B Team, a U.S.-based advocacy group of global business leaders. At last year’s B20 in Argentina (a global business meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit) <a href="https://www.b20argentina.info/Content/Images/documents/20180918_210524-B20A%20IC%20Policy%20Paper.pdf" target="_blank">industry representatives called on governments to reduce business risks associated with anonymous company ownership.</a> Public registries are increasingly seen as a critical due diligence tool, and support for that open data is growing across multiple levels of industry, from <a href="http://www.bteam.org/announcements/us-government-action-on-anonymous-companies-is-crucial-in-global-effort-to-fight-corruption/" target="_blank">big banks to small businesses and even multinationals</a>, Hodess told the summit.</p>
<p>Weak transparency rules pose risks to society beyond the impact on business. A <a href="https://thefactcoalition.org/new-study-anonymous-companies-fuel-illicit-trade-in-counterfeit-and-pirated-goods?utm_medium=press/news-releases">report this spring from the Washington-based FACT Coalition</a> highlighted how opaque ownership has allowed the import of counterfeit goods ranging from cancer treatment medication to knockoff military components. Legislators in the U.S. have recently <a href="https://vancouversun.com/business/local-business/growing-push-on-in-western-world-to-make-corporate-ownership-transparent-conference-hears">acknowledged the perils of anonymous business ownership</a>; beneficial ownership bills are making their way through congress with bipartisan support.</p>
<p align="center">***</p>
<p>As the U.S. moves toward greater transparency, it has heightened warnings about the “<a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5102137/us-canada-major-money-laundering-country/">major money laundering country</a>” to its north. The U.S. Department of State this spring placed Canada on a shortlist of countries, including Afghanistan, the British Virgin Islands and China, at high risk of money laundering. Canada’s international reputation continues to suffer as<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48231558"> international headlines</a> expose the country’s snow-washing problem—and lack of government response.</p>
<p>An estimated <a href="https://www.cpacanada.ca/en/news/world/2019-04-10-dirty-money">$2.6 trillion—roughly 5% of global GDP—is laundered worldwide</a>. The effects at home are detrimental enough, but they are devastating in countries where the additional loss of revenue exacerbates poverty. Money laundering helps fund terrorism and trafficking, which also more profoundly affect the poorest individuals, particularly women. Canada, which is committed to a feminist international assistance policy, can do much more to strengthen domestic laws to reduce gender-based violence beyond our borders.</p>
<p>Federal and provincial policy-makers have acknowledged there’s a problem. This spring, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced the government would <a href="https://www.fin.gc.ca/n19/19-063-eng.asp">commit to exploring solutions</a> with the provinces, including looking at a public registry of company beneficial owners. But without any firm commitment, advocacy groups and citizens must continue to press all levels of government to move toward more transparent laws that protect our communities, the economy, and Canada’s role on the international stage.</p>
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<p><em>Erika Beauchesne is Communications Co-ordinator at Canadians for Tax Fairness.</em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/law-and-legal-issues">Law and legal issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Fri, 11 Oct 2019 15:56:30 +0000Stuart Trew14981 at https://www.policyalternatives.caCanada's failed corporate tax cutting bingehttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/canadas-failed-corporate-tax-cutting-binge
<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/matt-polacko">Matt Polacko</a></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p>Corporate income tax has long been a leading provider of government revenue. Unfortunately, large sections of the media and policy-making community have accepted the notion, propagated by both the business lobby and neoliberal ideology, that corporate tax is a detrimental, inefficient and growth inhibiting tax. Tax cuts, on the other hand, are said to encourage investment, create jobs and increase productivity. There is strong evidence that neither of these widely held beliefs are true.</p>
<p>We need look no further than south of the border for the latest example of corporate tax cuts failing to match promises. President Trump’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_Cuts_and_Jobs_Act_of_2017#Corporate_tax">Tax Cuts and Jobs Act</a> of 2017, which lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, did not lead to any increase in growth, investment or wages, according to a <a href="http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/study-trump-tax-cuts-failed-growth-investment.html">Congressional Research Service</a> paper published in May. These findings were <a href="https://blogs.imf.org/2019/08/08/us-business-investment-rising-market-power-mutes-tax-cut-impact/">echoed</a> in a more recent study by the IMF. The only benefit from the cuts was a brief upturn in repatriated corporate money from abroad, which quickly levelled off as companies dumped their proceeds into <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/30/trump-tax-cut-law-investigation-worker-benefits">share buy-backs and dividends</a>.</p>
<p>Despite this considerable policy failure, we still hear calls for renewed corporate tax cuts in Canada. The Alberta government, for example, has announced it is lowering the provincial corporate tax rate by <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5327743/alberta-corporate-income-taxes-kenney/">one-third</a>, claiming this will increase competitiveness and spur investment. It almost certainly will not. Between 2000 and 2006, the Chrétien and Martin governments cut the corporate rate from 28% to 21%; by 2012, the Harper government had taken it down to 15%.</p>
<p>This halving of corporate taxes in just 12 years contributed substantially to the profits of large firms, but the public benefits are hard to find.According to Statistics Canada, after-tax corporate profits have more than doubled since 2000 (from $122 to $303 billion) while total federal corporate tax revenue increased by $33 billion (from $50 to $83 billion). Canada’s economy (measured by GDP) doubled in size over this period, from $1.13 to $2.22 trillion, yet corporations are contributing a declining share of this amount to the federal treasury.</p>
<p>Even small changes in corporate tax rates have sizeable ramifications, as every one percentage point cut has been estimated to cost the federal government <a href="http://behindthenumbers.ca/2012/01/25/the-race-to-the-trough-what-did-corporate-tax-cuts-deliver/">roughly $2 billion</a> in annual revenue. This lost revenue has substantially undermined public spending. But corporate tax cuts have also been shown to actually <a href="https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/do-corporate-income-tax-rate-reductions-accelerate-growth">foster slower growth</a> in Canada. Worse yet, rather than investing their enlarged earnings into expansionary industrial projects, Canada’s corporate sector has hoarded an idle cash pile of <a href="https://pressprogress.ca/corporate_canada_is_sitting_on_680_billion_85_canadians_say_raise_corporate_taxes/">$680 billion</a>, which nearly matches the federal debt size.</p>
<p>As mentioned, the corporate profits that are not hoarded have mostly been spent on share buy-backs and dividends. As shown in the chart, dividend spending has quadrupled since the turn of the century as the tax rate dropped, while investment in machinery and equipment has barely budged.</p>
<p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-10-11%2010.06.58.png" width="939" height="471" /></p>
<p>Canada already has the <a href="http://mmkconsulting.com/compalts/reports/compalt2016_report_tax_en.pdf">lowest effective corporate tax rate</a> (which includes tax incentives) among the world's leading economies, but it hasn't led to any increased rates of business investment. Canadians should be questioning why we are trying to win a global race to the bottom that simply helps more wealthy shareholders avoid paying tax.</p>
<p>Low corporate tax rates contribute to soaring inequality that has also proven to be harmful for <a href="https://www.oecd.org/newsroom/inequality-hurts-economic-growth.htm">economic growth</a>. Moreover, the long-term well-being of Canada is being put at risk, since corporate profits depend on tax-financed public goods such as an educated and healthy workforce and a strong infrastructure. Cutting already low taxes for corporations does not lead them to invest more or contribute their fair share, but it does undermine everyone else.</p>
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<p><em>Matt Polacko is a Progressive Economics Fellow with the CCPA’s national office and a doctoral candidate in Politics at Royal Holloway, University of London.</em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/alternative-budgets">Alternative budgets</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/federal-election">Federal election</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/government-finance">Government finance</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-1 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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</div>
Fri, 11 Oct 2019 15:49:42 +0000Stuart Trew14979 at https://www.policyalternatives.caOh Canada, our home and native tax havenhttps://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/oh-canada-our-home-and-native-tax-haven
<div class="field field-name-field-secondary-title field-type-text field-label-hidden">
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even">The world is shutting doors to money laundering. Why are Canada’s still wide open?</div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-author-ref field-type-node-reference field-label-above">
<div class="field-label">Author(s):&nbsp;</div>
<div class="field-items">
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/authors/michael-cuenco">Michael Cuenco</a></div>
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<div class="field field-name-field-release-date field-type-datetime field-label-hidden">
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<div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">November 1, 2019</span></div>
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<div class="field-item even"><p><img src="/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Screenshot%202019-10-11%2010.29.39.png" alt="Coconuts tax haven illustration" width="717" height="492" /><strong><sup>Illustration by Michael Haddad</sup></strong></p>
<p>Imagine you’re a lawyer who specializes in international taxation. You work at a prestigious firm whose clients include the world’s rich and powerful: Russian oligarchs, Wall Street executives, Gulf state sheiks, some heads of state and government, even a few famous rock stars. Your task is to find a suitable place to stash their wealth so as to “minimize liabilities.” An easy way to do it is to start shell companies, a trick you’ve pulled off many times before.</p>
<p>You look at a map of the world and start thinking. How about the old favourites: the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda? No, too obvious. The United Kingdom has <a href="https://www.regulationtomorrow.com/eu/uk-government-confirms-that-public-beneficial-ownership-registers-will-be-established-in-the-british-overseas-territories-by-2023/">passed legislation</a> requiring the disclosure of the real beneficial owners of corporate entities in its overseas territories (see Erika Beauschene in this issue), spelling the end of shell companies as we’ve known them. Ireland, Luxembourg or the Netherlands, then? Sorry—like the U.K., the European Union recently mandated that each member state must set up a public beneficial ownership registry.</p>
<p>You start scratching your head as you realize this is becoming a trend, at least among wealthier countries, many of which are beginning to catch on to the free pass given to all kinds of financial wrongdoing. Looking back at the map, Mexico, Kenya and India catch your eye as potential alternative shell company hosts. Then you remember that these countries have <a href="https://cifar.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Beneficial-ownership-the-state-of-play-2017.pdf">signed onto</a> public beneficial ownership transparency as part of the 2016 London Anti-Corruption Summit! </p>
<p>Close to giving up, you wonder aloud: “Is there a country left in the world that has all the privacy protections and the rule of law and good ease of doing business, but that still lacks beneficial ownership transparency?” You look back at your map and finally see what’s been there all along. How could you have missed that huge landmass staring right back at you? Of course! Canada, a country with the nicest and cleanest of reputations, is somehow still a relative laggard when it comes to the level of transparency expected of corporate entities registered there.</p>
<p>You call up your clients and announce you’ve found the perfect place to park their evaded taxes and illicit wealth. “It’s off to the Great White North!”</p>
<p><strong>From Russia with laundered funds</strong></p>
<p>It might be troubling for many Canadians to learn that their country has become a tax and laundering haven, but this is precisely what leaks like the Panama Papers have revealed. Internal records of the offshore firm at the centre of the scandal, Mossack Fonseca, show employees <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/panama-papers-canada-tax-haven-1.3950552">pointing to Canada</a> as a particularly easy place to incorporate shell companies while advertising the country as a "good place to create tax planning structures to minimize taxes.”</p>
<p>A large part of the reason for this is that Canada is tied for last place among G20 partners with respect to fulfilling the group’s commitments to advance beneficial ownership transparency. More recently, the EU has committed to a publicly accessible database of individuals who ultimately own, derive benefit from or exercise control over a company or legal entity, whether or not these are the same as the formal legal owners.</p>
<p>The gap between legal and beneficial ownership reporting allows for any number of intermediaries, nominee directors and shareholders to obscure who really owns the entity, creating pathways for the circulation of wealth between shell companies and making it much more difficult for public authorities to detect wrongdoing of the following varieties.</p>
<p><em>Magnitsky Case</em></p>
<p>In May 2017, CBC News released the results of its months-long investigation into a possible Russian tax fraud and money laundering ring. Suspicious funds were routed through approximately 30 Canadian bank accounts, and $17.6 million was discovered to have been transferred from Canadian companies to the accounts of Russian criminal syndicates. Some of these Canadian companies undertook questionable business practices. (This was the case the slain Russian tax lawyer and anti-corruption icon Sergei Magnitsky was involved in exposing.)</p>
<p><em>Panama Papers </em></p>
<p>Since the release of the Panama Papers in April 2016, nearly 900 Canadian individuals and corporate entities have been named as being involved in Mossack Fonseca’s tax-dodging operations. However, as the <em>Monitor</em> went to print,<a id="_anchor_3" name="_msoanchor_3" href="#_msocom_3"></a> no one had yet been prosecuted, and investigative efforts by law enforcement and the Canada Revenue Agency are still in process.</p>
<p>The ongoing <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-revenue-agency-tax-evasion-vancouver-1.5075426">Panama Papers probe</a>, undertaken by the CRA in connection with a reported $77 million offshore tax evasion scheme, resulted in search warrants on two Vancouver properties this March. According to the agency’s <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/enforcement-notification-search-panama-papers-cra-executing-search-warrants-in-77-million-tax-evasion-case-898758519.html">press release</a>, the scheme was an alleged attempt to evade non-resident withholding tax and was enabled by connections between “domestic and offshore entities,” as confirmed by “various information sources, including records obtained through the Panama Papers leak.”</p>
<p><em>Money laundering in British Columbia </em></p>
<p>In September 2018, the British Columbia government created an expert panel chaired by Simon Fraser University professor Maureen Maloney to shed light on money laundering in the province’s real estate sector, a practice commonly undertaken through the use of shell companies. According to the panel’s final report in May 2019, an estimated $7.4 billion was laundered in British Columbia in 2018, with around $5 billion hidden through housing. The report estimates there could be about <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/housing-and-tenancy/real-estate-in-bc/combatting-money-laundering-report.pdf">$30 billion laundered</a> throughout the rest of Canada. </p>
<p>Though the Maloney report did not put forward an estimate of how much of this money could be linked to tax evasion, it explicitly acknowledges the vital <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/housing-and-tenancy/real-estate-in-bc/combatting-money-laundering-report.pdf">link</a> between evasion and money laundering: “Money launderers are often also tax evaders. Less taxation revenue directly impacts the ability of governments to provide quality public services for residents,” it reads. The report also highlights linkages with entities in tax haven jurisdictions: “All of the complexity of the international financial system can be used in innovative ways to structure a series of transactions that can be difficult or impossible to trace back in practice.”</p>
<p><em>Oilpatch Case</em></p>
<p>In 2018, investigators from the CRA <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-chinese-investments-in-oil-patch-behind-rcmp-cra-tax-probe-in-alberta/">alleged</a> that a company with holdings in Alberta’s oil patch, Sequoia Resources Corp, served as a vehicle for tax evasion in connection with offshore accounts. The CRA claimed the company’s owner received funds amounting to $2,666,865, “through a series of transfers involving foreign corporations that he is either directly or indirectly involved with.”</p>
<p>Though a relatively small-scale case of alleged individual tax evasion compared to the more notorious scandals, it is important in that it involves the Alberta oil patch, which is often touted as the economic mainstay and pride of the province. More care needs to be taken by the provincial government in Edmonton to address the vulnerabilities of the sector to tax evasion.</p>
<p><em>Project Sindicato </em></p>
<p>In June 2019, York Regional Police<a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5541105/project-sindacato-york-regional-police/"> divulged</a> information on the bust of the “Figliomeni Crime Family,” accused of laundering around $35 million through illicit funds and assets. Twenty-seven arrests were made, including nine individuals in the organization’s leadership who “face a litany of charges, including money laundering, tax evasion, and participation in a criminal organization, among others,” according to Global News.</p>
<p>The Figliomeni family’s alleged criminal enterprises include corporate entities in the form of accounting firms and real estate companies in and around Vaughan, just north of Toronto. Using these corporate entities, the organization was allegedly able to engage in “laundering millions through Ontario casinos, gambling between $30,000 and $50,000 a night,” as <a href="https://www.yorkregion.com/news-story/9507340-figliomeni-crime-family-busted-through-laundering-gambling-crimes-police/">reported</a> by the <em>Vaughan Citizen</em>.</p>
<p>Police involved in the case have remarked on the centrality of investigating “financial offences that can be documented.” The observation underscores the need for law enforcement authorities to have the tools and capabilities to trace illicit financial flows through whatever fronts and vehicles these funds may be channelled. </p>
<p><strong>Ownership transparency and tax fairness</strong></p>
<p>No one, not high-powered tax lawyers at an offshore firm or international crime syndicates and their confederates in corrupt governments, should be able to turn to Canada as a secrecy jurisdiction of last resort—and after everyone else has gotten their act together on corporate ownership transparency.</p>
<p>As these cases demonstrate, the need for a national public beneficial ownership registry has become more urgent than ever. Its establishment would eliminate the use of shell companies as a means of engaging in financial crime and allow Canada to realize advantages like potential increased tax revenues and an easing of the endemic money laundering of recent years. </p>
<p>Now, a national public registry would by no means be a panacea or a one-stop shop for tackling the complexity of financial crime. It would, however, provide a much-needed extension and supplement to the existing financial intelligence infrastructure, one that can help authorities by raising red flags in the event of suspicious transactions and transfers.</p>
<p>A public registry would fill in or match information from other databases, such as sanctions lists or the recently implemented Common Reporting Standard, and make it easier to co-operate with other jurisdictions in catching the culprits of transnational money laundering and tax evasion. For big cities like Vancouver and Toronto, where large infusions of anonymous wealth have inflated housing prices, a beneficial ownership registry would curtail the use of shell companies as vehicles through which to purchase property, and would do much to ease the affordability crisis.</p>
<p>For the federal government, a registry would close the avenues afforded by anonymous shell companies for directing the proceeds of crime to illegal outfits and assorted kleptocrats. Just as important, a beneficial ownership registry and database would allow Canada to challenge its growing international reputation as an alternative tax haven and money laundering destination.</p>
<p>We shouldn’t be the place deceptive tax lawyers settle on to set up shell companies for their rich clients. We should instead take a leadership role in the global campaign to restrict illicit financial flows, fight corruption and lay the foundations of a fairer economy and a more decent society at home and abroad.</p>
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<p class="Default"><em>Michael Cuencois an independent researcher and advocate on tax issues. He is currently pursuing a master of global affairs at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.</em></p>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/corporations-and-corporate-power">Corporations and corporate power</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/economy-and-economic-indicators">Economy and economic indicators</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/environment-and-sustainability">Environment and sustainability</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/international-trade-and-investment-deep-integration">International trade and investment, deep integration</a></div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/law-and-legal-issues">Law and legal issues</a></div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issues/taxes-and-tax-cuts">Taxes and tax cuts</a></div>
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<div class="field-label">Offices:&nbsp;</div>
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<div class="field-item even"><a href="/offices/national">National Office</a></div>
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Fri, 11 Oct 2019 15:41:18 +0000Stuart Trew14978 at https://www.policyalternatives.ca